THE 



POETICAL WORKS 



OF 



JOHN MILTON. 



REPRINTED FROM THE BEST EDITIONS 



WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE, Etc. 



■A- 







NEW YORK : 
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., 

XO. 13 ASTOK PLACii. 






BrpNmfn 
Gt@f Agr. 
27 *06 



CONTENTS. 



PAOB. 

Bkstcb or THK LiFK or John Miltok ... . . . B 

P^&XDisB Lost — 

1 18 

II 36 

m s 63 

IV 83 

V 110 

VI .134 

VII 158 

VIII 175 

IX 192 

X 223 

XI 262 

XII 278 

Pakadise Reoainbd — 

1 892 

n 306 

m 319 

IV 331 

Samson Agonistes • . 348 

Poems on Sevteral Occasions — 

I. Anno ^tatis XVII 400 

n. Anno ^tatis XIX 402 

III. On the Morning of Cliript'a Nativity .... 405 

IV. The Passion ; . . 412 

V. On Time 414 

VI. Upon the Circumcision 41.'5 

Vn. At a Solemn Music 416 

VIII. An Epitaph ou the Marcbionesg of Winchester . . 410 



B CONTENTS. 

rAOK. 

EC. Soug ou May Morning 418 

X. On Shakspeare, 1630 419 

XI. On the University Carrier ... . . 419 

XII. Another on the same 420 

XIII. L'Allegro 421 

XIV. IlPeneeroso 428 

— XV. Arcades 429 

COMTJS ... 433 

Poems on Several Occasions — 

XVII. Lycidas 464 

XVIII. The Fifth Ode of Horace, Lib. 1 469 

XIX. On the New Forcers of Conscience Under the Long Parlia- 
ment 470 

Sonnets — 

I. To the Nightingale 471 

n. Donna leggiadra, &C. 471 

in. Qual in coUe aspro, &o. 472 

IV. Diodati, &c 473 

V. Per certo i bei, &c 473 

VI. Giovane piano, &c. 473 

VU. On his being arrived at the Age of Twenty-three . . 474 

Vni. When the Assault was intended to the City . . . 474 

IX. To a Virtuous Young Lady 475 

X. To the Lady Margaret Ley 475 

XI. On the Detraction which followed upon my Writing certain 

Treatises 476 

XII. On the Same 476 

XIII. To Mr. H. Lawes on his Airs 477 

XIV. On the Religions Memory of Mrs. Catherine Thomson, my 

Christian Friend 477 

XV. To the Lord General Fairfax 478 

XVI. To the Lord General CromAvell 478 

XVII. To Sir Henry Vane the Younger 47^ 

XVIII. On the late Massacre in Piemont ..... 4T9 

XIX. On his Blindness 480 

XX. To Mr. Lawrence 480 

XXI. To Cyriac Skinner 481 

XXn. To the Same 481 

XXIII. On his Deceased Wile 482 

PbaIiMS .... . . . . • I 483 



CONTENTS. ill 

TAOIt. 
LATIN POEMS. 

POBMATA ... 008 

Ei.EOiA.RUM Liber — 

I. Ad Carolum Deodatum . 813 

II. Ill Obitiiin Pniecouis Academici Cantabrigiensii . 615 

III. Ill Obitum Pra-sulis Wintonieusis ... . 6;i6 

IV. Ad ThomaTii Jiiuiuin . 518 

V. Ill Adventum Veris 521 

VI. Ad Carolum Deodatum . 625 

VII. Anno ^tatia 19 627 

EPIGRAMMATITM LlBER — 

In Proditioneni Bombardlcam 631 

In Eaiideni ; 531 

In Eandein 531 

In Eandem 532 

In luventoreni Bombardse 632 

Ad Leouoram Komse Cauentem 632 

Ad Eandem 6.33 

Ad Eandem 633 

Apologus de Ru.stico et Hero 533 

SrLVARTTM LiBEK — 

In Obitmn Procancellarii Medici 534 

In Quintuni Novembris 635 

In Obitum Pv?e.sulis Eliensis ....... 641 

Naturam nou pati Senium ' . . 643 

De Idea Platonica quemadmodum Aristoteles Intellexit - 545 

Ad Patrem 546 

Ad Salsillnm . . . . M9 

Manila 650 

Epitaphiuin Damonis 653 

Ad Joanuem Rouaium 659 

Ad Christlnam fiaecoram reii^Dam nomine CromweUl . 663 



SKETCH 



LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. 



John Milton, the most distinguished of English poets, and on« 
whose exertions in the cause of civil and religious liberty must ever en- 
title him to the grateful regards of his countrymen, was born iu Breda 
Street, December 9, 1608, and received his early education at St. Paul's 
School. Young Milton was removed at the age of seventeen to Christ's 
College, Cambridge, and soon distiuguished himself by the purity and 
elegance of his Latin compositions as well as for his general classical at- 
tainments. 

On leaving college he repaired to his father's residence in Buckdng- 
harashire, where he spent five years in the most diligent study of the 
Greek and Latin classics ; and during this interval he appears to have 
produced both his exquisite " Masque of Comus," which is stated in the 
title to have been performed at Ludlow Castle, iu 1634, before the Earl 
of Bridgewater, and some of the principal of his minor poems, of which 
we may especially notice his "Lycidas," the character of which is pas- 
toral. 

In 1638, Milton left England for the pur^iose of completing his educa- 
tion by foreign travel; and visited in succession Paris, Nice, Genoa, 
Pisa, Florence, Rome, and Naples. Honors from both the learned and 
the great waited upon the accomplished Englishman wherever he ap- 
peared. The state of his native country, however, worn by dissensions, 
and manifestly on the eve of a great convulsion, appealed too strongly to 
his patriotic ardor to suffer him to protract his stay abroad ; and return- 
ing by the way of Geneva, he again reached home after an absence of about 
fifteen months. He did not now resume his residence with his father. 
He probably considered that for the unsettled times which were appar- 
ently at hand the fit preparation, wliich it behoved every man to make, 
was the adoption of some way of earning his bread by his own indepen- 
dent exertions; and hiring a liouse in St. Bride's church-yard, he opened 
a seminary for the instruction of youth in the classic languages. The 
school turning out very successful, he shortly afterwards removed to a 
house iu Aldersgate Street, and in 1641 he published a treatise in favor 
of the Puritans. 

T n1673, Milton married a daughter of Mr. Powell, of Forrest Hill, 
Oxfordshire, a firm Royalist. This marriage, in its early stage, seemed 



O LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. 

very inauspicious; for, either influenced hy family considerations, oi 
from want of congeniality in sentiments and feelings, they had only 
been married a month when his wife deserted him, and returned to her 
friends. She made no reply to the repeated letters and remonstrances 
of her husband; wliich so incensed him, that he formed the resolution 
to receive her no more ; and to justify this resolution, he published sev- 
eral pieces on the subject of divorce. He even proceeded so far as to 
pay his addresses to a young lady with the design of marrying hf r. 
whilst this marriage was negotiating he was surprised by a visit fioru 
his wife, who implored pardon and reconciliation on her knees. This 
awakened his teuderest affection, and he received her with kindness to 
his bosom. 

Milton's political spirit agreeing with the republican spirit of these 
times, he strongly supported the cause of the Commonwealth and the 
destruction of kingly government by several publications on the subiect. 

In 1645 he published a collection of Latin and Englisli poems, isooi 
after the death of the King he was advanced by Cromwell to the station 
of Latin secretary to himself and the parliament; and he continued to 
hold the latter office till the restoration of Charles IL In 1()4!), Salma- 
sius, a professor of polite learning atLeyden, and a man of extraordinary 
literary attainments, produced liis " Defensio Regis." to which Milton 
replied in so forcible a manner that it became difficult to determine 
whose language was best. After this Milton resided for some time with 
his family in Wliitehall; but his ill health obliged him to take lodgings 
in the neighborhood of St. James's Park; where his wife died, leaving 
him three daughters. This pninfnl occuiTence was soon succeeded by 
another still more distressing — his own dejjrivation of siglit. In these 
melancholy circumstances he directed his attention to another oliject, 
and was married to the daughter of a Captain Woodcock, of Hackney. 
She died within a year, from the same cause as the former wife. Milton 
has honored her memory in his eighteenth sonnet. 

On the King's restoration, he found it necessary to conceal himself 
till the storm against him was blown over, and the interest of his friends 
had got him inchided in the general amnesty. He now retired from the 
busy scenes of the world, and devoted himself to the completion of his 
grand poem. For, although his circumstances had suffered by the Res- 
toration, his indejieudent sp.rit refused to accei>t any public eni])loy- 
ment, and he lived in the great st simplicity in the neighborhood of Bun- 
hill Fields, where we are told he used to sit in a gray coarse cloth coat at 
the door in the summer, to enjoy the fresh air and receive the visits of 
persons of distinguished rank avi learning. 

He had now reached his fort\ -seventh year; and being free from ex- 
ternal interruptions, applied himself to the con.side ration of three works 
which had long been reserved ir future exertion — an epic [wem, the 
history of his country, and a dictiv'uary of the Latin tongue. lni])racti- 
cable as the labor of collecting a tiictionary seeius to be to a m;in in a 
state of blindness, we are told that lie prosecuted that design aiMio.-;t to 
his dying day; tlie compilers of the ' Cambridge Diction.ary," published 
in 1H93, availed themselves of three folios he left behind. His historical 
narrative did not proceed beyond the conquest, from the dilHculty, it is 
probable, of consulting a variety of authorities with the help of other 
eyes. For the subject of his epic poem, after much deliVieration, he de- 
termined upon "Paradise Lost" — a project which could only be justi 
fied by the success that attended it. We have already seen that at the 
Restoration Milton concealed himself in Bartholomew Close, where he re- 
mained til', the passing an act of oblivion, which secured his parson and 



LUTE OF JOHK MILTOK. 7 

piopcrty in common with others ; the reason of his toeing treated with 
Bach indulgence cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. About this time 
he removed to Jewin Street, and married a third wife, who contributed 
very little to his domestic comfort — she oppressed his children in his life- 
time, and defrauded them at his death. From Jewin Street he went to 
reside in the Artillery Walk, near Bunhill Fields, which concludes the 
register of his Loudon residences. 

"W liile he continued to divide his time between State affairs and his 
private studies, it was hardly possible for him to accomplish any literary 
ondertaking of great imporfcince; but on quitting the office of Latin sec- 
retary, he was left to the free ezercise of his mental energies, wliich coald 
act be employed upon a subject better suited to the extensive ran^e thej 
were accustomed to take than that he had chosen. The "ParadtS<i 
Lost " is said to have been written at different times, and was sold oa 
the 27th of April, 1G67, to Samuel Simmons, for an immediate payment 
of 5?. ; with a further agreement for the same sum when 1500 cojmcs of 
the first edition should be disposed of; and again 51. when the sama 
number should bo sold of the second edition ; and another 51. after a 
similar sale of the third. All the editions were limited to 1500 copies. 
The third edition was published in 1678, aud the widow to whom the 
copy then devolved sold all her claims to Simmons for 8/. ; whence it 
will appear that the snm of 28Z. constituted the entire remuneration for 
a performance which, while it immortalized the name of the poet, con- 
ferred an honor equally imperishable upon the nation signalized for his 
birth. While he was thus engaged, he was materially assisted by hia 
two daughters, who wrote to his dictation for many hours each day. 

Four years after his " Paradise Lost," he published his " Paradiae 
Btegained," which was his favorite production — a preference which hae 
ever been opposed to the opinion of the public. In the last year of his 
life he printed a collection of "Familiar Epistles" in Latin: to these 
(being too few to forma volume, he added some academical exercises. 

In his last retreat, he produced his " Samson Agonistes," a tragedy 
written on the Greek model. A life of indefatigable study, and which 
bad been exposed to a variety of vicissitudes, now began to draw u> a 
close. Milton had long been afflicted with the gout and otlier infirmi- 
ties, and he died without a struggle on the 10th of November, 1674, in 
the sixty-sixth year of his ago. His person was so delicate and beauti- 
ful in his youth, that at Cambridge he went by the appellation of " the 
Lady of Christ's College; " and in Italy the celebrated Giovanni Baptists 
Manso, who had conferred considerable favors on him, gives a high 
tdeA of bis beauty in a Latin epigram which has been thug translated: — 

" So perfect then In mind, In form, and face, 
Thou'rt not of Eugii«h, but angelJc race." 

0»mpbell, the poet, a critic in every shape qualified to form an acca- 
rate opinion of the merits of Milton in regard to his powers of versificft • 
(don, furnishes the following remarks on the universality of his genir.d; — 
" In Milton," he says, " there may be traced obligations to several miiiai 
English poets ; but his genius had too great a supremacy to belong to 
way school. Though ho acknowledged a filial reverence for Spencer afi 
% jwet, he left no Golthic irregular tracery in the design of his own great 
work, but gave a classical harmony of parts to its stupendous pile. l\ 
thuB resembles a dome, the vastness of which is at first sight concealed 
by its symmetry, but which expands more and more to the eye while i< 
Ifl contemplated. His early pietry seems to have neither disturbed do' 



8 LTFK OF JOHN MILTON. 

corrected the bad taste of his age. ' Comus ' came Into the world tmac- 
knowledged by ite author, and Lycidas ' appeared at first only with hia 
Initials. Theye and other exquisite pieces, composed in the happiest 
years of his life at his father's country house at Horton, were collectively 
published with his name affixed to them, in 1645; but that precious vol- 
ume which included 'L' Allegro' and ' II Penseroso,' did not, I believe, 
come to a second edition till it was republished by himself at the dis- 
tance of twenty-eight years. Almost a century elapsed before his minor 
works obtained their proper fame. 

" Even when ' Paradise Lost' appeared, though it was not neglected, 
it attracted no crowd of imitators, and made no visible change in the 
IMjetical practice of the age. He stood alone and aloof, above his times, 
the bard of immortal subjects, and, as far as there is perpetuity in lan- 
guage, of immortal fame. The very choice of those subjects bespoke a 
contempt for any species of excellence that was attainable by other men. 
There is something that overawes the mind in conceiving his long delib- 
erated selection of that theme, his attempting it when his eyes were shut 
upon the face of nature, his dependence, we might almost say, on super- 
natural inspiration, and in the calm air of strength with which he opens 
' Paradise Loat,' beginning a mighty performance without the appearance 
of an effort. 

"The warlike iiart of ' Paradise Lost ' was inseparable from its sub- 
ject. Whether it could have been differently managed is a problem 
which our reverence for Milton will scarcely jtermit us to state. I feel 
that reverence too strongly to suggest even the possibility that Milton 
could have improved his poem by having thrown his angelic warfare into 
more remote perspective; but it seems to me to be most sublime when 
it is least distinctly brought home to the imagination. What an awful 
effect has the dim and undefined conception of the conflict which we 
gather from the opening of the first book I There the veil of mystery i8 
left undrawn between us and a subject which the powers of description 
were inadequate to exhibit. The ministers of divine vengeance and pur- 
suit had been recalled — the thunders had ceased 

' To bellow through the vast and bonndless deep,' 

(In that line what an image of sound and space is conveyed!) — and our 
terrific cenception of the past is deepened by its indistinctness. In optics 
there are some phenomena which are beautifully deceptive at a certain 
distance, but which lose their illusive charm on the slightest approach 
to them that changes the light and position in which they are viewed. 
Something like this takes place in the phenomena of fancy. The array 
of the fallen angels in hell, the unfurling of the standard of Satan, aud 
the march of his troops 

' In perfect phalanx, the Dorian mood 
Of flutes and 90ft recorders.' — 

All this human pomp and circumstance of war is magic and overwhelm- 
ing illusion. The imagination is taken by surprise. But the noblest 
efforts of language are tried with very unequal effect to interest us in 
the immediate and close view of the battle itself in the sixth book; and 
the martial demons, who charmed us in the shades of hell, lose some 
portion of their sublimity when their artillery is discharged in the day- 
light of heaven. 

" If we call diction the garb of thought, Milton in his style may b« 



LITK OF JOHN ICCLTOK. • 

«ftjd to we&t the costume of sovereignty. The idioits even of lorolga 
\j»t.gl.»geB contribnted to adorn it. He was the most learned of poete; 
je% Ilia learning interferes not with hie substantial English purity. Hii 
«m]Jicity is unimpaired by glowing ornament, like the bush in the s&cred 
flame, which burnt but ' was not consumed.' 

" In delineating the blessed spirits, Milton has exhausted all the con- 
ceivable Tariety that could be given to pictures of unshaded sanctity: 
but it is chiefly in those of the fallen angels that his excellence is conspio- 
aous above everything ancient or modern. Tasso had indeed pourt?;aye<l 
ux infernal council, and had given the hint to our poet of iscribing the 
origin of pagan worship to those reprobate spirits. But how poor and 
squalid in comparison with the Miltonic Pandjemonium are the Syllaa, 
the Cyclopses, and the Chimeras of the Infernal Council of the Jerosft^ 
lem! Tasso's conclave of fiends is a den of ugly, incongruous monstcrg. 
The powers of Milton's hell are god-like shapes and forms. Their ap- 
pearance dwarfs every otlier poetical conception, when we turn our 
dilated eyes from contemplating them. It is not their external attributes 
alone which expand the imagination, but their souls, which are as colos- 
aal as their stature — their ' thoughts that wander through eternity ' — the 
pride that burns amidst the ruins of their divine natures, and their 

fenins that feels with the ardor and debates with the eloquence of 
eaven." 
But the proudest monument that has been reared to the genius of 
Milton is the "Essay" from the pen of Dr. Channing. It breathes a 
8I)irit of poetry nearly akin to that with which that great poet was him- 
self imbued, and furnishes the most masterly view of his genius that 
has yet appeared 

In speaking of the intellectual qualities of Milton, Dr. Channing says: 
" We may begin with observing, that the very splendour of his poetic 
fame ha« tended to obscure or conceal the extent of his mind, and the 
variety of its energies and attainments. To many he seems only a poet, 
when in truth he was a profound scholar, a man of vast compass of 
thought, imbued thoroughly with all ancient and modem learning; and 
able to master, to mould, to impregnate with his own intellectual power, 
his great and various acquisitions. He had not learned the superficial 
doctrine of a later day — that poetry flourishes most in an uncultivated 
Boil, and that imagination shapes its brightest visions from the mists of 
a superstitious age; and he had no dread of accumulating knowledge, 
lest it should oppress and smother his genius. He was conscious of that 
within him which could quicken all knowledge and wield it with ease 
and might; which could give freshness to old truths, and harmony to 
discordant thoughts; which could bind together, by living ties and mys- 
terious affinities, the most remote discoveries; and rear fabrics of glory 
and beauty from the rude materials which other minds had collected. 
Milton had that universality which marks the highest order of intellect. 
Though accustomed almost from infancy to drink at the fountains of 
classical literature, he had nothing of the pedantry and fastidiousness 
which disdain all other draughts. His healthy mind delighted in genius, 
on whatever soil, or in whatever age it burst forth and poured out its 
fnlness. He understood too well the rights, and dignity, and pride ol 
creative imagination, to lay on it the laws of the Greek or Roman school. 
Pamassas was not to him the only holy ground of genius. He felt that 
poetry was a universal presence. Great minds were everywhere big 
kindred. He felt the onchantment of Oriental fiction, surrendered 
himself to the strange creations of ' Arahy the Blest,' and delighted still 
more In the romantic spirit of chivalry, and tn the tales of wonder is 



10 LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. 

which it was embodied. Accordingly his poetry reminds us of the ocean, 
which adds to its own boundlessness contributions from all regions un- 
der heaven. Nor was it only in the department of imagination that his 
acquisitions were vast. He travelled over the whole field of knowl- 
edge as far as it had then been explored. His varioii.s philological at- 
tainments were used to juit him in possession of the wisdom stored in all 
countries where the intellect had been cultivated. The natural jihiloso- 
phy, metai>hysics. ethics, history, theology, and ]iolitical science of his 
own and former times, were familiar to him. Never was there a more 
uuconfined mind, and we would cite Milton as a practical example oi 
the benefits of that universal culture of intellect w hich forms one dis- 
tinction of our times, but which some dread as unfriendly to original 
thought. Let such remember that mind is in its own nature diffusive. 
Its ol)ject is the universe, which is strictly one, or bound together by in- 
finite connections and correspondences; and accordingly its natural ])ro- 
gress is from one to another field of thought: and wherever original 
power and creative genius exists, the mind, far from being distracted or 
oppressed by the variety of its acquisitions, will see more and more com- 
mon bearings and hidden and beautiful analogies in all the objects of 
knowledge, — will see mutual light shed from truth to truth, and will 
compel, as with a kingly power, whatever it understands, to yield some 
tribute of proof, or illustration, or splendour, to whatever topic it should 
tmfold. 

" Milton's fame rests chiefly on his poetry, and to this we naturally 
give our first attention. By those who are accustomed to speak of poetry 
as light reading, Milton's eminence in this sphere may be considered only 
as giving him a high rank among the contributors to public anmsement. 
Not so thought Milton. Of all God's gifts of intellect, he esteemed 
poetical genius the most transcendent. He esteemed it in himself as a 
kind of ins])!ration, and wrote his great works with something of the con- 
scious dignity of a prophet. We agree with Milton in his estimate of 
poetrj. It seems to us the divinest of all arts; or it is tlie breathing or 
expression of that ])rinciple or sentiment which' is the dee])est and sub- 
limest in human nature: we mean of tliat tliirst or asi)irati<>n to which 
no mind is wholly a stranger, for something purer and lovelier, some- 
thing more powerful, lofty, and thrilling, than ordinary and real life af- 
fords. No doctrine is more common among Christians than that of man's 
immortality; but it is not so generally understood that the germs or prin- 
ciples of his whole future being are now wrapped up in his soul as the 
rudiments of the future plant in the seed. As a necessary result of this 
constitution, the soul, possessed and moved by these mighty though in- 
fant energies, is perpetually stretching beyond what is present and vis- 
ible, struggling against the' bounds of its earthly prison-house, and seek- 
ing relief and joy in imagination of unseen and' ideal being. This view 
of our nature, which has never been fully developed, and wliich goee 
further towards explaining the contradictions of human life than all 
others, carries us to the very foundation and sources of jioetry. He who 
cannot inten>ret, bv his own consciousness, what we now have said, 
wants the true key to works of genius. He has not penetrated those sa- 
cred recesses of the soul, where jioetry is born and nourished, and in- 
hales intuiortal vigor, and wings herself for her heavenward flight. In 
an intellectual nature framed for progress and for higher modes of being, 
there must be creative energies, powers of original and ever-growing 
thought: and jioetrv is the forui in which these energies are chiefly man- 
ifested. It is the glorious prerogative of this art, that it ' makes all things 
new ' for the gi-atification of a divine instinct. It indeed finds its ele- 



LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. 11 

ments in what it actually sees and experiences in the world of matter and 
mind, but it combines and blends these into new forms and according to 
new affinities; breaks down, if we may so say, the distinctions and 
bounds of nature; imparts to material objects life, and sentiment, and 
emotion, and iuvests the nwud with the powers aud splendours of the out- 
ward creation; describes tlie surrounding universe in the colours which 
the passions throws over it, and depicts the mind in those modes of re- 
pose or agitation, of tenderness or sublime emotion, which manifest its 
thirst for a more powerful and joyful existence. To a man of a literai 
and prosaic character, the mind may seem lawless in these workings; 
but it observes higher laws than it transgresses, the laws of the immortal 
intellect; it is tryiug and developing its best faculties: and in the objects 
which it describes, or in the emotions which it awakens, anticipates those 
states of progressive power, splendour, beauty, and happiness for which 
it was created. 

" We accordingly believe that poetry, far from injuring society, is 
one of the great instruments of its refinement and exaltation. It lifts the 
mind above ordinary life, gives it a respite from depressing cares, and 
awakens the consciousness of its affinity with what is pure and noble. In 
its legitimate and highest efforts it has the same tendency aud aim with 
Christianity — that is, to spiritualize our nature. True, poetry has been 
made the instrument of vice, the pander of bad passions; but when ge- 
nius thus stoops it dims its fires, and parts with much of its power; and 
even when jioetry is enslaved to licentiousness or misanthropy, she can- 
not wholly forget her true vocation. Strains of pure feeling, touches of 
tenderness, images of innocent happiness, sympathies with sutfering vir- 
tue, bursts of scorn or indignation at the hollowness of the world, pas- 
sages true to our moral nature often escape in an immoral work, and 
show us how hard it is for a gifted spirit to divorce itself wholly from 
what is good. Poetry has a natural alliance with our best affections. It 
delights in the beauty and sublimity of the outward creation and of the 
soul. It indeed pourtrays with terrible energy the excesses of the pas- 
sions; but they are passions which show a mighty nature, which are 
full of power, which command awe, and excite a deep though shudder- 
ing sympathy." 

We must now proceed to speak specially of " Paradise Lost," perhaps 
the noblest monument of human genius. The two first books, by uni- 
versal consent, stands pre-eminent in sublimity. Hell and hell's king 
have a terrible harmony, aud dilate into new grandeur and awfulness 
the longer we contemplate them. From one element, " solid and liquid 
fire," the poet has framed a world of horror aud suffering, such as im- 
agination had never travensed. But fiercer flames than those which en- 
compass Satan burn in his own sonl. Revenge, exasperated pride, con- 
suming wrath, ambition though fallen, yet unconquered by the thunders 
of the Omnipotent, and grasping still at the em])ire of the universe, — 
these form a picture more sublime aud terrible than hell. Hell yields to 
the spirit which it imprisons. The intensity of its fires reveals the in- 
tenser passions and more vehement will of Satan, and the ruined arch- 
angel gathers into himself the sublimity of the scene which surrounds 
him. This forms the tremendous interest of these wonderful books. We 
see raind triumphant ove*- the most terrible powers of nature. We see 
unutterable agony subdued by energy of soul. We have not indeed in 
Satan those bursts of ])assion which rive the soul as well as shatter the 
outward frame of Lear, but we have a depth of passion which only aa 
archangel could manifest. The all-enduring, all-defying pride of Satan, 
assuming so majestically hell's burning throne, and coveting the dia- 



12 LIPB OF JOHN MILTON. 

dem, which scorches his thunder-blasted brow, is a creation requiring in 
Its author almost the spiritual energy with which he invests the fallen 
seraph. Some have doubted whether the moral effect of such delinea- 
tions of the storms and terrible workings of the soul is good ; whether 
the interest felt in a spirit so transcendently evil as Satan favours our 
Bympathies with virtue. But our interest fastens, in this and like cases, 
OK what is not evil. We gaze on Satan with an awe not unmixed with 
mysterious ]ileasure, as on a n.iraculous manifestation of the power ol 
mind. What chains us, as with a resistless spell, in such a character, ie 
ipiritual might made visible by the racking pains which it overpowers. 
There is something kindling and ennobling in the consciousness, however 
awakened, of the energy which resides in mind; and many a virtuoui 
man has borrowed new strength from tlie force, constancy, and daunt- 
less courage of evil agents. 

Milton's description of Satan attests in various ways the power of hia 
genius. Critics have often observed, that the great difficulty of his work 
was to reconcile the spiritual properties of his supernatural beings with 
the human modes of existence, which he was obliged to ascribe to them; 
and the difficulty is too great for any genius wholly to overcome, and we 
must acknowledge that our enthusiasm is in some parts of the poem 
checked by a feeling of incongruity between the spiritual agent and his 
sphere and mode of agency. But we are visited with no such chilling 
doubts and misgivings in the description of Satan in hell. Imagination 
has here achieved its highest triumph, in imparting a character of reality 
and truth to its most daring creations. That world of horrors, thougn 
material, is yet so remote from our ordinary nature, that a spiritual be- 
ing, exiled from heaven, finds there an appropriate home. There is, too, 
an indefiniteness in the description of Satan's person which incites without 
shocking the imagination, and aids us to combine in our conception of him 
the massiness of a real form with the vagueness of spiritual existence. 
To the production of this effect much depends on the first impression 
given by the poet; for this is apt to follow us through the whole work; 
and here we think Milton eminently successful. The first glimpse of 
Satan is given us in the follovring lines, which, whilst too indefinite to pro- 
voke the scrutiny of the reason, fill the imagination of the reader with a 
form which can hardly be effaced : — 

'* Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate 
Wltti head up-lift above the wave, and eyes 
That sparkliTie blazed, his other parts besides 
Prone on the nood, extending long and large, 
Lay floating many a rood, * » * 

' Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool 
His mighty stature : on each hand the flames, 
Driven backward slope their pointed spires, and roU'd 
In billows, leave i' th' midst a horrid vale." 

We have more which we should gladly say of the delineation of Satan, 
•specially of the glimpses which are now and then given of his deep 
anguish and despair, and of the touches of better feelings which are skil- 
fully thrown into the dark picture, both suited and designed to blend 
with our admiration, dread, and abhorence, a measure of that sympathy 
and interest with which every living, thinking being ought to be re- 
garded, and without which all other feelings tend to sin and pain. But 
there is another topic which we cannot leave uutonched. From hell we 
flee to paradise — a region as lovely as heU is terrible, and which to those 



UTB OF JOHN MILTON. 13 

who do not knew the nniversality of true genius, will appear doubl.y 
wonderful when considered as the creation of the same mind which had 
painted the infernal world. 

Paradise and its inhabitants are in sweet accordance, and together form 
a scene of tranquil bliss, which calms and soothes, whilst it delights the 
Imagination. Adam and Eve, just moulded by the hand, aud quickened 
by the breath of God, reflect in their countenances and forms, as well 
as minds, the intelligence, benignity, and happiness of their author. 
Their new existence has the freshness and peacefulnes.s of the dewy 
morning. Their souls, un.sated and untainted, find an innocent joy in the 
youthful creation, which spreads and smiles around them. Their mutua'i 
love is deep ; for it is the love of young, unworn, unexhausted hearts, 
which meet in each other the only human objects on whom to pour forth 
their fulness of affection ; and still it is serene, for it is the love of 
happy beings who know not suffering even by name — whose inno- 
cence excludes not only the tumults, but the thought of jealousy and 
shame — who " imparadised in one another's arms,'' scarce dream of 
futurity, so blessed is their present being. We will not say that we envy 
our first parent.'j, for we feel that there may be higher ha])piuess thai 
theirs — a happiness won through struggle with inward and outward foe? 
— the hai)pines8 and power of moral victory — the happiness of disinter 
ested sacrifices and wide-spread love — the hapjiiness of boundless hope, 
and of " thoughts which wander through eternity." Still there are times 
when the spirit, oppressed with pain, worn with toil, tired of tumult, sick 
at the sight of guilt, wounded in its love, baffled in its ho]>e, and trem- 
bling in its faith, almost longs for the " wings of a dove, that it might fly 
away," and take refuge amidst the " shady bowers," the " vernal airs," 
the " roses without thorns," the quiet, the beauty, the loveliness of Eden. 
It is the contrast of this deep peace of paradise with the storms of life 
which gives to the fourth and fifth books of this poem a charm so irre- 
sistible that not a few would sooner relinquish the two first books, with 
all their sublimity, than part with these. It has sometimes been said 
that the English language has no good pastoral poetry. We would ask 
in what age or country has the pastoral reed breathed such sweet strains 
as are borne to us on "the odoriferous wings of gentle gales " from Mil- 
ton's Paradise ? 

We should not fulfil our duty were we not to say one word on 
what has been justly celebrated the harmony of Milton's versifica- 
tion. His numbers have the prime charm of expressiveness. They vary 
with, and answer to, the depth of tenderness, or sublimity of his concep- 
tions, and hold intimate alliance with the soul. Like Michael Angelo, in 
whose hands the marble was said to be flexible, he bends our language, 
which foreigners re)>roach with hardness, into whatever forms the sub- 
ject demands. All the treasures of sweet and solemn «ounds are at his 
command. Words, harsh and discordant in the writings of less gifted 
men, flow through his poetry in a full stream of harmony. This power 
over language is not to be ascribed to Milton's musical ear. It belongs 
to the soul. It is a gift or exercise of genius, which has power to impress 
itself on whatever it touches, and finds or frames in sounds, motions, and 
material forms, correspondences and harmonies with its own fervid 
thoughts and feelings. 

We close our remarks on Milton's poetry with observing, that it is 
characterized by seriousness. Great and various as are its merits, it does 
not discover all'the variety of genius which we find in Shaksi)eare, whose 
Imagination revelled equally in regions of mirth, beauty and terror — now 
Invoking spectres, now sporting with fairies, and now " ascending th» 



14 LIFK OF JOHN MUiTON. 

hij;hest heaven of inveution." Milton was east on times too soieuin and 
eventful, waa called to take part in transactions too perilous, and had 
too perpetnal need of the presence of high thoughts and motives to in- 
dulge himself in light and gay creations, even had his genius been more 
flexible and sportive. But Milton's poetry, though habitually serious, is 
always healtliful and bright, and vigorous. It has no gloom. He took 
no i)lea8ure in drawing dark pictures of life; for he knew by experience 
that there is a power in the soul to transmute calamity into an occasion 
and nntriment of moral power and triumphant virtue. We tind nowhere 
in his writings that whining sensibility and exaggeration of morbid feel- 
ing which makes so much of modern poetry effeminating. If he is not 
gay, he is not spirit-broken. His " L' Allegro " proves that he understood 
thoroughly the bright and joyous aspects of nature; and in his " Pense- 
toso," where he was tempted to accumulate images of gloom, we lean^ 
that the saddest views which he took of creation are such as inspire only 
poiuive muBingg or lofty contemplation. 



PARADISE LOST. 



BOOK I. 

ABGUMEMT. 

The Fikst Book proposes, first in brief, the whole subject, man's dl». 
obedieme, and the loss thereupon of Paradise, wherein he was pla';«d; 
then touches the prime cause of his fall, the serpent, or rather Satan In 
the serpent ; who, revolting from God, and drawing to his side many 
legions of angels, was, by tiie command of God, driven out of heaven, 
with all his crew, into the great deep. Which action passed over, the 
Poem hastens into the midst of things, presenting Satan with his angels 
DOW falling into Hell, described here, not in the centre (for Heaven and 
Earth may be supposed as yet not made, certainly not yet accursed), but 
in a place of utter darkness, fitliest called Chaos: Here Satan, with his 
angels, lying on the burning lake, thunderstruck and astonished, after a 
certain space recovers, as from confusion, calls up him who next in order 
and dignity lay by him ; they confer of their miserable fall ; Satan 
awakens all his legions, who lay tUl then hi the same manner con- 
founded. They rise, their numbers, array of battle; their chief leaders 
named according to the idols known afterwards in Canaan and the 
countries adjoining. To these Satan directs his speech, comforts them 
with hope yet of regaining Heaven, but tells them lastly of a new world 
and a new kind of creature to be created according to an ancient 
prophecy, or report in Heaven ; for that angels were long before this 
visible creation, was the opinion of many ancient Fathers. To find out 
the truth of this prophecy, and what to determine thereon, he refers 
to a full council. What his associates thence attempt Pandemonium, 
the palace of Satan, rises, suddenly built out of the deep: the infernal 
peers there sit u- council 

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit 
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, and all our woe, 
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man 
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, 
Sing, heavenly Muse, that on the secret top 
Of Orob, or of Sinai, didst inspire 
That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, 
In the beginning how the heavens and earth 




16 paeaj6isb lost. 

Rose out of chaoB : or, if/Sion hill 
Delight thee more, and^-^iloa's brook that flow'd 
Fast by the oracle ofXiod, I thence 
Invoke thy aid to i^- adventurous song, 
That with no mid^ale flight intends to soar 
Above the Aonion mount, while it pursues 
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. 
And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer 
Before all temples the upright heart and pure, 
Instruct me, for Thou know'st. Thou from the fimt 
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread, 
Dove-like, satst brooding on the vast abyss, 
And made it pregnant : what in me is dark 
Illumine ; what is low raise and support ; 
That to the height of this great argument . 
I may assert eternal Providence, 
And justify the ways of God to men. 

Say first, for Heaven hides nothing from thy view, 
Nor the deep tract of Hell ; say first, what cause 
Moved our grand parents, in that happy state. 
Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off 
From their Creator, and transgress his will 
For one restraint, lords of the world besides ? 
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt ? 
Th' infernal Serpent ; he it was, whose guile, 
Stirr'd up with envy and revenge, deceived 
The mother of mankind, what time his pride 
Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his hoit 
Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring 
To set himself in glory above his peers, 
He trusted to have equalled the Most High, 
If he opposed ; and, with ambitious aim 
Against the throne and monarchy of God 
Raised impious war m Heaven, and battle proud 
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power 
Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky, 
With hideous ruin and combustion, down 
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell 
In adamantine chains and penal fire, 
Who durst defy the Omnipotent to anus. 



<# 



PAEADISB L|pSl. 17 

Nine times the space that measures day and night 

To mortal men, he with his horrid crew 

Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf, 

Confounded though immortal : but hi.s doom 

Reserved him to more wrath ; for now the thought 

Both of lost happiness and lasting pain 

Torments him : round he throws his baleful eyes, 

That witnessed huge affliction and dismay 

Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate : 

At once, as far as angel's ken, he views 

The dismal situation waste and wild ; 

A dungeon horrible on all sides round 

As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames 

No light, but rather darkness visible 

Served only to discover sights of woe, 

Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace 

And rest can never dwell, hope never comes 

That comes to all ; but torture without end 

Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed 

With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed : 

Such place eternal Justice had prepared 

For those rebellious, here their prison ordained 

In utter darkness, and their portion set 

As far removed from God and light of Heaven, 

As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole. 

Oh, how unlike the place from whence they fell ! 

There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelmed 

With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire, 

He soon discerns, and weltering by his side 

One next himself in power, and next in crime. 

Long after knoAvn in Palestine, and named 

Beelzebub, To whom the Arch-Enemy, 

And thence in Heaven called Satan, with bold words 

Breaking the horrid silence thus began. 

If thou beest he ; but oh, how fallen ! how changed 
'From him, who in the happy realms of light 
Clothed with transcendent brightness didst outshine 
IVIyriads though bright ! If he whom mutual league, 
United thoughts and counsels, equal hoj^e 
And hazard in the glorious enterprise, 

2 




18 PAB >yDI8B LOST. 

Joined with me once, uo^ misery hath joined 
In equal ruin : into wlmt pit thou seest 
From what height faJden, eo much the stronger prored 
He with his thunder : and till then who knew 
The force of thosfe dire arms ? yet not for those, 
Nor what the potent victor in his rage 
Can else inflict, do I repent or change, 
Though changed in outward lustre, that fix'd mind, 
And high disdain from sense of injured merit, 
That with the mightiest raised me to contend, 
iNud to the fierce contention brought along 
Innumerable force of spirits armed, 
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring, 
, His utmost power with adverse power opposed 
^/ In dubious battle on the plains of Heaven, 
^ And shook his throne. What though the field be lost ? 

All is not lost ; the unconquerable will, 
And study of revenge, immortal hate, 
And courage never to submit or yield, 
And what is else not to be overcome ; 
That glory never shall his wrath or might 
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace 
With suppliant knee, and deify his power. 
Who from the terror of this arm so late 
Doubted his empire ; that were low indeed, 
That were an ignominy and shame beneath 
This downfall ; since by fate the strength of godi 
And this empyreal substance, cannot fail ; 
Since, through experience of this great event, 
In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced, 
We may with more successful hope resolve 
To wage by force or guile eternal war. 
Irreconcilable to our grand foe, 
Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy 
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven. 

So spake the apostate angel, though in pain, 
V^aunting aloud, but racked with deep despair: 
And him thus answered soon his bold compeer. 

" O prince, O chief of many-throned powers, 
That led the embattled seraphim to war 



PAEADI8B LOST. 






Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds 

Fearless, endanger'd heaAcn's perpetual King, 

And put to proof his high supremacy, 

Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate ; 

Too well I see and rue the dire event, 

That with sad overthrow and foul defeat 

Hath lost us Heaven, and all this mighty host 

In horrible destruction laid thus low, 

A.S far as gods and heavenly essences 

Can perish: for the mind and spirit remains 

Invincible, and vigour soon returns. 

Though all our glory extinct, and happy state 

Here swallow'd up in endless misery. 

But what if he our Conqueror (whom I now 

Of force believe almighty, since no less 

Than such could have o'erpower'd such force as ours) 

Have left us this our spirit and strength entire, 

Strongly to suffer and support our pains, 

That we may so suffice his vengeful ire, 

Or do him mightier service as his thralls 

By right of war, whate'er his business be. 

Here in the heart of Hell to work in fire, 

Or do his errands in the gloomy deep ; 

What can it then avail, though yet we feel 

Strength undiminished, or eternal being 

To undergo eternal punishment?" 

Whereto with speedy words the arch-fiend replied. 

" Fall'n cherub ! to be weak is miserable 
Doing or suffering : but of this be sure. 
To do aught good never will be our task, 
But ever to do ill our sole delight. 
As being the contrary to his high will 
Whom we resist. If then his providence 
Out of our evil seek to bring forth good, 
Our labour must be to pervert that end. 
And out of good still to find means of evil; 
Which oft-times may succeed, so as perhaps 
Shall grieve Him, if I fail not, and disturb 
His inmost counsels from their destined aim. 
But see ! the angry Victor hath recalled 



PAEADI8E LOST. 

.sters of vengeance and pursuit 
J the gates of heaven : the sulphurous hail 
after us in storm, o'erblown hath laid 
. fiery surge, that from the precipice 
. heaven received us falling ; and the thunder, 
/V^ing'd with red lightning and impetuous rage, 
Perhaps has spent his shafts, and ceases now 
To bellow through the vast and boundless deep. 
Let us not slip the occasion, whether scorn 
Or satiate fury yield it from our Foe. 
Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wUd, 
The seat of desolation, void of light, 
Save what the glimmering of these livid flames 
Casts pale and dreadful ? Thither let us tend 
From off the tossing of these fiery waves, 
There rest, if any rest can harbour there, 
And re-assembling our afflicted powers. 
Consult how we may henceforth most offend 
Our enemy ; our own loss how repair ; 
How overcome this dire calamity ; 
What reinforcement we may gain from hope ; 
If not, what resolution from despair." 

Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate, 
With head up-lift above the wave, and eyes 
That sparkling blazed ; his other parts besides 
Prone on the flood, extended long and large, 
Lay floating many a rood : in bulk as huge 
As whom the fables name of monstrous size, 
Titanian, or earth-born, that warred on Jove, 
Briareos, or Typhon, whom the den 
By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea^beast 
Leviathan, which God of all his works 
Created hugest that swim the ocean stream : 
Him, haply slumbering on the Norway foam, 
The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff 
Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell. 
With fixed anchor in his scaly rind 
Moors by his side under the lea, while night 
Invests the sea, and wished morn delays : 
So stretch'd out huge in length the arch-fiend lay 




PABADISE LOST. 

Chained on the burning lake, nor ever thence 

Had risen or heaved his head, but that the will 

And high permission of all-ruling Heaven 

Left him at large to his own dark designs, 

That with reiterated crimes he might 

Heap on himself damnation, while he sought 

Evil to others ; and enraged might see 

How all his malice served but to bring forth 

Infinite goodness, grace and mercy shown 

On man by him seduced ; but on himself 

Treble confusion, wrath and vengeance poured. 

Forthwith upright he rears, from off the pool, 

His mighty stature ; on each hand the flames, 

DriA'en backward, slope their pointing spires, and rolled 

In billows, leave i' the midst a horrid vale. 

Then with expanded wings he steers his flight 

Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air 

That felt unusual weight, till on dry land 

He lights, if it were land that ever burned 

With solid, as the lake with liquid fire ; 

And such appear'd in hue, as when the force 

Of subterranean wind transports a hill 

Torn from Pelorus, or the shattered side 

Of thundering ^tna, whose combustible 

And fuel'd entrails thence conceiving fire. 

Sublimed with mineral fury, aid the winds. 

And leave a singed bottom, all involved 

With stench and smoke : such resting found the sole 

Of unblest feet. Him followed his next mate, 

Both glorying to have 'scaped the Stygian flood 

As gods, and by their own recovered strength, 

Not by the sufferance of supernal Power. 

" Is this the region, this the soil, the clime," 
Said then the lost archangel, " this the seat 
That we must change for Heaven, this mournful gloom 
For that celestial light ? Be it so, since he. 
Who now is Sovran, can dispose and bid 
What shall be right : farthest from him is best. 
Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme 
Above his equals. Farewell happy fields 



PARA PISS LOST. 

jj for erer dwells ! Hail horrors ! haD 
? world, and thou, profoundest Hell, 
V e thy new possessor ! one who brings 
Ind not to be changed by place or time : 
<e mind is its own place, and in itself 

-an make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven 
W^hat matter where, if I be still the same, 
And what I should be, all but less than he 
"Whom thunder hath made greater ? Here at least 
We shall be free ; the Almighty hath not built 
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence : 
Here we may reign secure, and, in my choice, 
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell : 
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. 
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, 
The associates and copartners of our loss. 
Lie thus astonished on the oblivious pool. 
And call them not to share with us their part 
In this unhappy mansion, or once more, 
"With rallied arms, to try what may be yet 
Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell?" 

So Satan spake, and him Beelzebub 
Thus answer'd. " Leader of those armies bright, 
Which but the Omnipotent none could have foiled, 
If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge 
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft 
In worse extremes, and on the perilous edge 
Of battle when it raged, in all assaults 
Their surest signal, they will soon resume 
New courage and revive, though now they lie 
Grovelling and prostrate on yon lake of fire, 
As we erewhile, astounded and amazed: 
No wonder, fallen such a pernicious height." 

He scarce had ceased when the superior fiend 
Was moving toward the shore ; his ponderous shield. 
Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round. 
Behind him cast ; the broad circumference 
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb 
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views 
At evening from the top of Fesol6, 



V 



PABADISB LOST. 



m 



Or in Valdamo, to descry new lands, ' U 

Rivers, or mountains in her spotty globe. \ *. 

His spear, to equal which the tallest pine Xj^ 

Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast 

On some great ammiral, were but a wand, 

He walk'd with, to support uneasy steps 

Over the burning marl, not like those steps 

On heaven's azure, and the torrid clime 

Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire, 

Nathless he so endured, till on the beach 

Of that inflam6d sea he stood, and call'd 

His legions, angel forms, who lay entranced 

Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks 

In Vallombrosa, where the Etrurian shades 

High over-arched imbower ; or scattered sedge 

Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion armed 

Hath vexed the Red Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew 

Busiris and his Memphian chivalry. 

While with perfidious hatred they pursued 

The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld 

From the safe shore their floating carcasses 

And broken chariot wheels : so thick bestrewn, 

Abject and lost, lay these, covering the flood, 

Under amazement of their hideous change. 

He called so loud, that all the hollow deep 

Of Hell resounded. " Princes, potentates, 

Warriors, the flower of Heaven, once yours, now lost, 

If such astonishment as this can seize 

Eternal spirits ; or have ye chosen this place 

After the toil of battle to repose 

Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find 

To slumber here, as in the vales of Heaven? 

Or in this abject posture have ye sworn 

To adore the Conqueror ? who now beholds 

Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood 

With scatter'd arms and ensigns ; till anon 

His swift pursuers from Heaven gates discern 

The advantage, and descending tread us down 

Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts 

Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf. 



PAEADISK LOST. 

.rise, or be for ever fallen ! " 
heard, and were abash'd, and up tliey sprung 
the wing, as when men, wont to watch 
duty, sleeping found by whom they dread, 
/use and bestir themselves ere well awake. 
A or did they not perceive the evil plight 
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel; 
Yet to their general's A'oice they soon obeyed, 
Innumerable. As when the potent rod 
Of Amrara's son, in Egypt's evil day, 
^Vaved round the coast*, up called a pitchy cloud 
Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind. 
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung 
Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile : 
So numberless were those bad angels seen 
Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell 
'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires ; 
Till, at a signal given, the uplifted spear 
Of their great sultan waving to direct 
Their course, in even balance down they light 
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain; 
A multitude, like which the populous North 
Poured never from her frozen loins, to pass 
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous sons 
Came like a deluge on the south, and spread 
Beneath Gibraltar to the Lybian sands. 
Forthwith from every squadron and each band 
The heads and leaders thither haste where stood 
Their great commander ; godlike shapes and formi 
Excelling hiimau, princely dignities. 
And powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones. 
Though of their names in heavenly records now 
Be no memorial, blotted out and rased 
By their rebellion from the book of life. 
Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve 
Got them new names ; till, wandering o'er the earth, 
Through God's high sufferance, for the trial of man, 
By falsities and lies the greater part 
Of mankind they corrupted to forsake 
God their Creator, and the invisible 




PABADISB LOST. 

Glory of Him that made them to transform 

Oft to the image of a brute, adorned 

With gay religions full of pomp and gold, 

And devils to adore for deities, 

Then were they known to men by various names, 

And various idols through the heathen world. 

Say, Muse, their names then known, who first, who 
last. 
Roused from the slumber, on that fiery couch, 
At their great emperor's call, as next in worth 
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand. 
While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof. 
The chief were those who from the pit of Hell, 
Roaming to seek their prey on earth, durst fix 
Their seats long after next the seat of God, 
Their altars by his altar, gods adored 
Among the nations round, and durst abide 
Jehovah thundering out of Sion, throned 
Between the cherubim ; yea, often placed 
Within his sanctuary itself their shrines, 
Abominations ; and with cursed things 
His holy rites and solemn feasts profaned, 
And with their darkness durst affront his light. 
First Moloch, horrid king besmeared with blood 
Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears. 
Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud 
Their children's cries unheard, that passed through fire 
To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite 
Worshipped in Rabba and her watery plain, 
In Argob and in Basan, to the stream 
Of utmost Aruon. Nor content with such 
Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart 
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build 
His temple right against the temple of God 
On that opprobrious hill, and made his grove 
The pleasant vale of Hinnom, Tophet thence 
And black Gehenna called, the type of Hell. 
Next Chemos, the obscene dread of Moab's soni 
From Aroar to Nebo, and the wild 
Of southmost Abarim ; in Heseboa 



PABADT8B LOST. 

,onaim, Seon's realm, beyond 
^ery dale of Sibma clad with vines, 
jj\eal& to the asphaltic pool. 
J his other name, when he enticed 
•ael in Sittim on their march from Nile 
: o do him wanton rites, which cost them woe. 
Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarged 
Even to that hill of scandal, by the grove 
Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate ; 
Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell. 
With these came they, who from the bordering flood 
Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts 
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general names 
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, those male, 
These feminine. For spirits when they please 
Can either sex assume, or both ; so soft 
And uncompounded is their essence pure, 
Not tied or manacled with joint or limb. 
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bonea, 
Like cumbrous flesh ; but in what shape they choose, 
Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure, 
Can execute their airy purposes, 
And works of love or enmity fulfil. 
For those the race of Israel oft forsook 
Their living Strength, and unfrequented left 
His righteous altar, bowing lowly down 
To bestial gods ; for which their heads as low 
Bowed down in battle, sunk before the spear 
Of despicable foes. With these in troop 
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians called 
Astarte, Queen of Heaven, with crescent horns ; 
To whose bright image nightly by the moon 
Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs, 
In Sion also not unsung, where stood 
Her temple on the offensive mountain, built 
By that uxorious king, whose heart, though large, 
Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell 
To idols foul. Thammuz came next behind, 
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured 
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate 



PAEADI8E LOST. 






In amorous ditties all a summer's day, 

While smooth Adonis from his native r^^ck '',^"' 

Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood \cj; 

Of Tharamuz yearly wounded : the love-tale 

Infected Sion's daughters with like heat, 

Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch 

Ezekiel saw, when by the vision led 

His eye surveyed the dark idolatries 

Of alienated Judah. Next came one 

Who mourned in earnest, when the captive ark 

Maimed his brute image head and hands lopp'd off 

In his own temple, on the grunsel edge. 

Where he fell flat, and shamed his worshippers ; 

Dagon his name, sea^monster, upward man 

And downward fish : yet had his temple high 

Reared in Azotus, dreaded through the coast 

Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon, 

And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds. 

Him followed Rimmon, whose delightful seat 

Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks 

Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams. 

He also 'gainst the house of God was bold : 

A leper once he lost, and gained a king ; 

Ahaz his sottish conqueror, whom he drew 

God's altar to disparage and displace, 

For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn 

His odious offerings, and adore the gods 

Whom he had vanquished. After these appeared 

A crew who, under names of old renown, 

Osiris, Isis, Orus, and their train, 

With monstrous shapes and sorceries abused 

Fanatic Egypt and her priests, to seek 

Their wandering gods disguised in brutish forms 

Rather than human. Nor did Israel 'scape 

The infection, when their borrowed gold composed 

The calf in Oreb ; and the rebel king 

Doubled that sin in Bethel and in Dan, 

Likening his Maker to the grazed ox ; 

Jehovah, who in one night, when he pass'd 

From Egypt marching, equalled with one stroke 



PARADISE LOST. 

. first-born and all her bleating gods, 
^.^ame last, than whom a spirit more lewd 
jot from Heaven, or more gross to love 
e for itself : to him no temple stood 
... altar smoked : yet who more oft than he 
i.n temples and at altars, when the priest 
Turns atheist, as did Eli's sons, who filled 
With lust and violence the house of God ? 
In courts and palaces he also reigns. 
And in luxurious cities, where the noise 
Of riot ascends above their loftiest towers, 
And injury and outrage : and when night 
Darkens the streets, then wander forth the soni 
Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. 
Witness the streets of Sodom, and that night 
In Gibeah, when the hospital door 
Exposed a matron, to avoid worse rape. 
These were the prime in order and in might ; 
The rest were long to tell, though far renowned, 
The Ionian gods, of Javan's issue ; held 
Gods, yet confessed later than Heaven and Earth, 
Their boasted parents ; Titan, heaven's first-born. 
With his enormous brood, and birthright seized 
By younger Saturn ; he from mightier Jove, 
His own and Rhea's son, like measure found ; 
So Jove usurping reign'd ; these first in Crete 
And Ida known, thence on the snowy top 
Of cold Olympus ruled the middle air, 
Their highest Heaven ; or on the Delphian cliff, 
Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds 
Of Doric land ; or who with Saturn old 
Fled over Adria to the Hesperian fields. 
And o'er the Celtic roamed the utmost isles. 

All these and more came flocking ; but with look§ 
Downcast and damp, yet such wherein appeared 
Obscure some glimpse of joy, to have found their chief 
Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost 
In loss itself : which on his countenance cast 
Like doubtful hue ; but he his wonted pride 
Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore 



PARADISE LOST. 






Semblance of worth not substance, gently raised^,*. 

Their fainting courage, and dispelled their fears. ' «^ 

Then straight commands that at the warlike sound ''j. 

Of trumpets loud and clarions be upreared 

His mighty standard ; that proud honour claimed 

Azazel as his right, a cherub tall, 

"Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurl'd 

The imperial ensign ; which, full high advanced, 

Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind, 

With gems and golden lustre rich emblazed, 

Seraphic arms and trophies ; all the while 

Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds : 

At which the universal host up sent 

A shout, that tore Hell's concave, and beyond 

Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night. 

All in a moment through the gloom were seen 

Ten thousand banners rise into the air 

With orient colours waving ; with them rose 

A forest huge of spears, and thronging helms 

Appeared, and serried shields in thick array 

Of depth immeasurable ; anon they move 

In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood 

Of flutes and soft recorders ; such as raised 

To height of noblest temper heroes old 

Arming to battle, and instead of rage 

Deliberate valour breathed, firm and unmoved 

With dread of death to flight or foul retreat ; 

Nor wanting power to mitigate and 'suage 

With solemn touches troubled thoughts, and chase 

Anguish and doubt, and fear, and sorrow, and pain. 

From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they, 

Breathing united force, with fixed thought, 

Mov'd on in silence to soft pipes, that charmed 

Their painful steps o'er the burnt soil ; and now 

Advanced in view they stand, a horrid front 

Of dreadful length and dazzling arms, in guise 

Of warriors old with ordered spear and shield, 

Awaiting what command their mighty chief 

Had to impose. He through the armed files 

Darts his experienced eye, and soon traverse 



1 



PAJtADISB LOST. 

jle battalion views, their order due, 
visages and stature as of gods ; 
:c number last he sums. And now his heart 
jtends with pride, and hardening in his strength 
lories ; for never since created man. 
Met such embodied force, as, named with these, 
Could merit more than that small infantry 
Warred on by cranes ; though all the giant brood 
Of Phlegra with the heroic race were joined 
That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side 
Mixed with auxiliar gods ; and what resoxmda 
In fable or romance of Uther's son 
Begirt with British and Armoric knights. 
And all who since, baptized or infidel, 
Jousted in Aspramont or Montalban, 
Damasco, or Morocco, or Trebisond, 
Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore, 
When Charlemain with all his peerage fell 
By Fontarabia. Thus far these beyond 
Compare of mortal prowess, yet observed 
Their dread commander ; he, above the rest 
In shape and gesture proudly eminent 
Stood like a tower ; his form had yet not loit 
All its original brightness, nor appeared 
Less than archangel ruined, and the excess 
Of glory obscured ; as when the sun new risen 
Looks through the horizontal misty air. 
Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon, 
In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds 
On half the nations, and with fear of change 
Perplexes monarchs. Darkened so, yet shone 
Above them all the archangel ; but his face 
Deep scars of thunder had entrenched, and caw 
8at on his faded ckeek, but under brows 
Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride 
Waiting revenge ; cruel his eyes, but cast 
Signs of remorse and passion to behold 
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather 
(Far other once beheld in bliss) condemned 
For ever now to have their lot in pain. 



PABA.DISE LOST. 

Millions of spirits for his fault amerced 
Of Heaven, and from eternal splendours flung 
For his revolt •, yet faithful how they stood, 
Their glory wither'd : as when Heaven's fire 
Hath scathed the forest oaks, or mountain pines, 
With singed top their stately growth, though bare, 
Stands on the blasted heath. He now prepared 
To speak ; whereat their doubled ranks they bend 
From wing to wing, and half enclose him round 
With all his peers : attention held them mute. 
Tlirice he essayed, and thrice, in spite of scorn, 
Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth : at last 
Words interwove with sighs found out their way. 

" O myriads of immortal spirits ! O powers 
Matchless but with the Almighty ; and that strife 
Was not inglorious, though the event was dire, 
As this place testifies, and this dire change, 
Hateful to utter : but what power of mind 
Foreseeing or presaging, from the depth 
Of knowledge past or present, could have feared , 
How such united force of gods, how such 
As stood like these, could ever know repulse ? 
For who can yet believe, though after loss, 
That all these puissant legions, whose exile 
Hath emptied Heaven, shall fail to reascend 
Self-raised, and repossess their native seat ? 
For me, be witness aU the host of Pleaven, 
If counsels different, or dangers shunned 
By me, have lost our hopes. But He who reigna 
Monarch In Pleaven, till then as one secure 
Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute, 
Consent or custom, and his regal state 
Put forth at full, but still his strength concealed, 
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall. 
Henceforth his might we know, and know our own, 
So as not either to provoke, or dread 
New war, provoked ; our better part remains 
To work in close design, by fraud or guile, 
What force affected not : that he no less 
At length from us may find, who overcomes 




1 



PAEADI8E LOST. 

rce, hath overcome but half his foe. 
je may produce new worlds ; whereof to rie© 
ere went a fame in Heaven that he ere long 
intended to create, and therein plant 
A generation, whom his choice regard 
Should favor equal to the sons of Heaven: 
Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps 
Our first eruption : thither or elsewhere ; 
For this infernal pit shall never hold 
Celestial spirits in bondage, nor the abyss 
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts 
Full counsel must mature ; peace is despaired, 
For who can think submission ? War, then, war, 
Open or understood, must be resolved." 

He spake ; and to confirm his words, outflew 
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs 
Of mighty cherubim ; the sudden blaze 
Far round illumined Plell ; highly they raged 
Against the highest, and fierce with grasped arms 
Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war, 
Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven. 

There stood a hill not far, whose grisly top 
Belched fire and rolling smoke ; the rest entire 
Shone with a glossy scurf, undoubted sign 
That in his womb was hid metallic ore. 
The work of sulphur. Thither, winged with speed, 
A numerous brigade hastened : as when bands 
Of pioneers with spade and pickaxe armed 
Forerim the royal camp, to trench a field. 
Or cast a rampart. Mammon led them on, 
Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell 
From Heaven, or eren in Heaven his looks and thoughU 
Were always downward bent, admiring more 
The riches of Heaven's pavement, trodden gold. 
Than aught, divine or holy, else enjoyed 
In vision beatific : by him first 
Men also, and by his suggestion taught, 
Ransacked the centre, and with impious hands 
Rifled the bowels of their mother earth 
For treasures better hid. Soon had his creMT 



PARADISE LOST. 



^ 



Opened into the hill a spacious wound, 
And digged out ribs of gold. Let none admire 
That riches grow in Hell ; that soil may best 
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those, 
Who boast in mortal things, and wondering tell 
Of Babel and the Avorks of Meniphian kings. 
Learn how their greatest monuments of fame 
And strength and art are easily outdone 
By spirits reprobate, and in an hour • 

What in an age they with incessant toil 
And hands innumerable scarce perform. 
Nigh on the plain in many cells prepared, 
That underneath had veins of liquid fire 
Sluiced from the lake, a second multitude 
With wondrous art founded the massy ore. 
Severing each kind, and scummed the bullion dross : 
A third as soon had formed within the gi-ound 
A various mould, and from the boiling cells 
By strange conveyance filled each hollow nook, 
As in an organ from one blast of wind 
To many a row of pipes the sound-board breathes. 
Anon out of the earth a fabric huge 
Rose like an exhalation, with the sound 
Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet, 
Built like a temple, where pilasters round 
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid 
With golden architrave ; nor did there want 
Cornice or frieze, with bossy scul])tures graven ; 
The roof was fi-etted gold. Not Babylon, 
Nor great Alcairo such magnificence 
Equalled in all their glories, to inshrine 
Belus or Serapis their gods, or seat 
Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove 
In wealth and luxury. The ascending pile 
Stood fixed her stately height, and straight the doors 
Opening their brazen folds discover wide 
Within, her ample spaces, o'er the smooth 
And level pavement : from the arched roof, 
Pendent by subtle magic many a row 
Of starry lamps and blazing cressets fed 

3 



/ 



PABADISB LOST. 



daphtlia and asphaltus yielded light 
.om a sky. The hasty multitude 
miring entered ; and the work some praise, 
i.nd some the architect : his hand was known 
In heaven by many a towered structure high, 
Where sceptred angels held their residence, 
And sat as princes, whom the Supreme King 
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule. 
Each in his hierarchy, the orders bright. 
Nor was his name unheard or unadored 
In ancient Greece ; and in Ausonian land 
Men called him Mulciber ; and how he fell 
From Pleaven, they fabled, thrown by angry Jov© 
Sheer o'er the crystal battlements ; from morn 
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, 
A summer's day ; and with the setting sun 
Dropped from the zenith like a falling star. 
On Lemnos the JEgean isle ; thus they relate. 
Erring ; for he with this rebellious rout 
Fell long before ; nor aught availed him now 
To have built in Heaven high towers ; nor did he 'eoape 
By all his engines, but was headlong sent 
With his industrious crew to build in Hell. 

Meanwhile the winged heralds by command 
Of sovereign power, with awful ceremony 
And trumpet's sound throughout the host proclaim 
A solemn council forthwith to be held 
At Pandemonium, the high capital 
Of Satan and his peers : their summons called 
From every band and squared regiment 
By place or choice the worthiest ; they anon 
With hundreds and with thousands trooping canae 
Attended : all excess was thronged ; the gates 
And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall 
(Though like a covered field, where champions bold 
Wont ride in armed, and at tbo Soldan's chair 
Defied the best of Panim chivalry 
Tc mortal combat, or career with lance), 
Thick swarm'd, both on the ground and in the air 
Brushed with the hiss of rustling wings. As bees 



PABAt>ISB LOST. 

In spring time, when the sun with Taurus rides, 

Pour forth their populous youth about the hive 

In clusters ; they among fresh dews and flowers 

Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank, 

The suburb of their straw-built citadel, 

New rubbed with balm, expatiate and confer 

Their state affairs. So thick the airy crowd 

Swarm'd and were straitened ; till, the signal given, 

Behold a wonder ! they but now who seemed 

In bigness to surpass earth's giant sons 

Now less than smallest dwarfs, in narrow room 

Throng numberless, like that pygmean race 

Beyond the Indian mount, or fairy elv^es, 

Whose midnight revels by a forest side 

Or fountain some belated peasant sees, 

Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon 

Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth 

Wheels her pale course ; they, on their mirth and dano6 

Intent, with jocund music charm his ear ; 

At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds. 

Thus incorporeal spirits to smallest forms 

Reduced their shapes immense, and were at large, 

Though without number still amidst the hall 

Of that infernal court. But far within, 

And in their own dimensions like themselves, 

The great seraphic lords and cherubim 

In close recess and secret conclave sat ; 

A thousand demi gods on golden seats 

Frequent and full. After short silence then, 

And summons read, the great consult began. 



/ 



pabjldisb lost. 



BOOK n. 

THB AEGtJMKNT. 

The consultation begun, Satan debates whether another tattle be to be 
hazarded for the recovery of Heaven : some advise it, others dissuade : a 
third proposal is preferred, mentioned before by Satan, to search the 
truth of that prophecy or tradition in Heaven concerning another world, 
and another kind of creature equal or not much inferior to themselves, 
about this time to be created : their doubt who should be sent on this 
diflBcult search. Satan their chief undertakes alone the voyage, ie 
honoured and applauded. The council thus ended, the rest betake them 
several ways, and to several employments, as their inclinations lead 
them, to entertain the time till Satan return. He passes on his journey 
to Hell-gates: finds them shut, and who sat there to guard them, by 
whom at length they are opened, and discover to him the great gull 
between Hell and Heaven ; with what difficulty he passes through, 
directed by Chaos, the power of that place, to the sight of this new world 
which he sought. 

High on a throne of a royal state, which far 

Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, 

Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, 

Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, 

Satan exalted sat, by merit raised 

To that bad eminence : and from despair 

Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires 

Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue 

Vain war with heaven, and, by success untaught 

His proud imaginations thus display'd : 

" Powers and dominions, deities of heaven 
For since no deep within her gulf can hold 
Immortal vigour, though oppressed and fallen, 
I give not heaven for lost. From this descent 
Celestial virtues rising, will appear 
More glorious and more dread than from no fall, 
And trust themselves to fear no second fate. 



PAKADISK LOST. 37 

Me, though just right, and the fix'd laws of Heaven, 

Did first create your leader, next, free choice, 

With what besides, in counsel or in fight, 

Hath been achieved of merit, yet this loss, 

Thus far at least recover'd, hath much more 

Establish'd in a safe unenvied tlirone 

Yielded with full consent. The happier state 

In Heaven, which follows dignity, might draw 

Envy from each inferior ; but who here 

Will envy whom the highest place exposes 

Foremost to stand against the Thunderer's aim 

Your bulwark, and condemns to greatest share 

Of endless pain ? Where there is then no good 

For which to strive, no strife can grow up there 

From faction ; for none sure will claim in HeU 

Precedence ; none, whose portion is so small 

Of present pain, that with ambitious mind 

Will covet more. With this advantage then 

To union, and firm faith, and firm accord, 

More than can be in heaven, we now return 

To claim our just inheritance of old. 

Surer to pros]>er than prosperity 

Could have assured us ; and, by what best way, 

Whether of open war, or covert guile. 

We now debate: who can advise, may speak." 

He ceased ; and next him Moloch, sceptred king 
Stood up, the strongest and the fiercest spirit. 
That fought in Heaven, now fiercer by despair: 
His trust was with the Eternal to be deem'd 
Equal in strength, and rather than be less 
Cared not to be at all ; with that care lost 
Went all his fear : of God, or Hell, or worse. 
He reck'd not, and these words thereafter spake. 

" My sentence is for open war : of wiles. 
More inexpert, I boast not : them let those 
Contrive who need, or when they need, not now. 
For, while they sit contriving, shall the rest, 
Millions that stand in arms, and longing wait 
The signal to ascend, sit lingering here 
Heaven's fugitives, and for their dwelling-place 



88 PAEADIBK LOST. 

Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame, 
The prison of his tyranny, who reigns 
By our delay ? No ! let ua rather choose, 
Arm'd with Hell's flames and fury, all at once, 
O'er Heaven's high towers to force resistless way 
Turning our tortures into horrid arms 
Against the torturer ; when, to meet the noise 
Of his almighty engine he shall hear 
Infernal thunder, and for lightning see 
Black fire and horror shot with equal rage 
Among his angels ; and his throne itself, 
Mix'd with Tartarean sulphur, and strange fire, 
His own invented torments. But perhaps. 
The way seems difficult and steep to scale 
"With upright wing against a higher foe. 
Let such bethink them, if the sleepy drench 
Of that forgetful lake benumn not still. 
That in our proper motion we ascend 
Up to our native seat : descent and fall 
To us is adverse. Who but felt of late. 
When the fierce foe hung on our broken rear 
Insulting, and pursued us through the deep, 
With what compulsion and laborious flight 
We sunk thus low ? The ascent is easy then ; 
The event is fear'd : should we again provoke 
Our stronger, some worse Avay his wrath may find 
To our destruction ; if there be in hell 
Fear to be worse destroyed : what can be worse 
Than to dwell here, driven out from bliss, condemn'd 
In this abhorred deep to utter woe ; 
Where pain of unextinguishable tire 
Must exercise us without hope of end. 
The vassals of his anger, when the scourge 
Inexorable, and the torturing hour, 
• Calls us to penance? more destroy'd than thuB, 
We should be quite abolish'd and expire. 
What fear we, then ? what doubt we to incense 
His utmost ire? which, to the height enraged, 
Will either quite consume us, and reduce 
To nothing this essential (happier far 



PARADISIC LOST. 3& 

Than miserable to have eternal being) : 
Or, if our substance be indeed divine, 
And cannot cease to be, we are at worst 
On this side nothing ; and by proof we feel 
Our power sufficient to disturb his heaven, 
And with perpetual inroads to alarm. 
Though inaccessible, his fatal throne : 
Which, if not victory, is yet revenge." 

He ended, frowning, and his look denounced 
Desperate revenge, and battle dangerous 
To less than gods. On the other side uprose 
Belial, in act more graceful and humane ; 
A fairer person lost not Heaven ; he seem'd 
For dignity composed, and high exploit : 
But all was false and hollow ; though his tongue 
Dropp'd manna, and could make the worst appear 
The better reason, to perplex and dash 
Maturest counsels ; for his thoughts were low ; 
To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds 
Timorous and slothful ; yet he pleased the ear, 
And with persuasive accent thus began : 

" I should be much for open war, O peers, 
As not behind in hate ; if what was urged 
Main reason to persuade immediate war, 
Did not dissuade me most, and seem to cast 
Ominous conjecture on the whole success ; 
When he, who most excels in fact of arms, 
In what he counsels, and in what excels 
Mistrustful, grounds his courage on despair 
And utter dissolution, as the scope 
Of all his aim, after some dire revenge. 
First, what revenge ? The towers of heaven are fiU'd 
With armed watch, that render all access 
Impregnable ; oft on the bordering deep 
Encamp their legions, or, with obscure wing 
Scout far and wide into the realm of night, 
Scorning surprise. Or could we break our way 
By force, and at our heels all Hell should rise 
With blackest insurrection, to confound 
Heaven's purest light ; yet our great enemy 



40 PARADISE LOST. 

All incorruptible would on his throne 

Sit unpolluted, and the ethereal mould, 

Incapable of stain would soon expel 

Her mischief, and purge off the baser fire 

Victorious. Thus repulsed, our final hope 

Is flat despair ; we must exasperate 

The Almighty Victor to spend all His rage, 

And that must end us ; that must be our cure, 

To be no more. Sad cure ! for who would lose, 

Though full of pain, this intellectual being, 

Those thoughts that wander through eternity, 

To perish rather, swallow'd up and lost 

In the wide womb of uncreated night. 

Devoid of sense and motion ? And who knows, 

Let this be good, whether our angry foe 

Can give it, or will ever ? how he can. 

Is doubtful : that he never will, is sure. 

Will he, so wise, let loose at once his ire, 

Belike through impotence, or unaware, 

To give his enemies their wish, and end 

Them in his anger, whom his anger saves 

To punish endless? Whei-efore cease we then? 

Say they who counsel war : we are decreed, 

Reserved, and destined to eternal woe ; 

Whatever doing, what can we suffer more, 

What can we suffer worse ? Is this then worst, 

Thus fitting, thus consulting, thus in arms ? 

What when we fled amain, pursued and struck 

With Heaven's afliicting thunder, and besought 

The deep to shelter us ? This Hell then seem'd 

A refuge from those wounds : or when we lay 

Chain'd on the burning lake ? That sure was worse. 

What if the breath that kindled those grim fires. 

Awaked should blow them into sevenfold rage, 

And plunge us in the flames ? or, from above. 

Should intermitted vengeance arm again 

His red right hand to plague us ? what if aU 

Her stores were open'd, and this firmament 

Of Hell should spout her cataracts of fire. 

Impendent horrors, threatening hideous fall 



PARADISE LOST. 41 

One day upon our heads ; while we, perhaps, 

Designing or exhorting glorious war, 

Caught in a fiery tempest, shall be hurl'd 

Each on his rock transfix'd, the sport and prey 

Of racking whirlwinds : or for ever sunk 

TT'nder yon boiling ocean, wrapp'd in chains ; 

There to converse with everlasting groans, 

Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved, 

Ages of hopeless end ? this would be worse. 

War, therefore, open or concealed alike 

My voice dissuades ; for what can force or guile 

With him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye 

Views all things at one view ? He from Heaven's height 

All these our motions vain sees and derides ; 

Not more almighty to resist our might 

Than wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles. 

Shall we then live thus vile, the race of Heaven 

Thus trampled, thus expelled to suffer here 

Chains and these torments? Better these than worse 

By my advice ; since fate inevitable 

Subdues us, and omnipotent decree. 

The Victor's will. To suffer, as to do, 

Our strength is equal, nor the law unjust 

That so ordains : this was at first resolved 

If we were wise, against so great a foe 

Contending, and so doubtful what might fall. 

I laugh, when those wlio at the spear are bold 

And venturous, if that fail them, shrink and fear 

What yet they know must follow, to endure 

Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain. 

The sentence of their conqueror ; this is now 

Our doom ; which if we can sustain and bear, 

Our supreme foe in time may much remit 

His anger ; and perhaps thus far removed 

Not mind us not offending, satisfied 

With what is punished ; whence these raging jSrea 

Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames. 

Our purer essence then will overcome 

Their noxious vapour ; or inured not feel ; 

Or, changed at length and to the place conform'd 



42 PABADISB LOST. 

In temper and in nature, will receive 

Familiar the fierce heat, and void of pain ; 

This horror will grow mild, this darkness light ; 

Besides what hope the never-ending flight 

Of future days may bring, what chance, what change 

Worth waiting, since our present lot appears 

For happy though but ill, for ill not worst, 

If we procure not to ourselves more woe." 

Thus Belial, with words clothed in reason's garb, 
Counseled ignoble ease, and peaceful sloth. 
Not peace : And after him thus Mammon spake. 

" Either to disenthrone the King of Heaven 
We war, if war be best, or to regain 
Our own right lost : him to unthrone we then 
May hope, when everlasting Fate shall yield 
To lickie Chance, and Chaos judge the strife : 
The former vain to hope argues as vain 
The latter : for what place can be for us 
Within Heaven's bound, unless Heaven's Lord supreme 
We overpower ? Suppose he should relent, 
And publish grace to all on promise made 
Of new subjection ; with what eyes could we 
Stand in his presence humble, and receive 
Strict laws imposed, to celebrate his throne 
With warbled hymns, and to his Godhead sing 
Forced hallelujahs; while he lordly sits 
Our envied sovereign, and his altar breathes 
Ambrosial odours and ambrosial flowers. 
Our servile offerings ? This must be our task 
In Heaven, this our delight ; how wearisome 
Eternity so spent in worship paid 
To whom we hate ! Let us not then pursue 
By force impossible, by leave obtained 
Unacceptable, though in Heaven, our state 
Of splendid vassalage ; but rather seek 
Our own good from ourselves, and from our own 
Live to ourselves, though in this vast recess, 
Free, and to none accountable, preferring 
Hard liberty before the easy yoke 
Of servile pomp. Our greatness will appear 



PABADISB LOST. 43 

Then most conspicuous, when great things of small, 

Useful of hurtful, prosperous of adverse 

We can create ; and in what place soe'er 

Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain 

Through labour and endurance. This deep world 

Of darkness do we dread? How oft amidst 

Thick clouds and dark doth heaven's all-ruling Sire 

Choose to reside, his glory unobscured, 

And with the majesty of darkness round 

Covers his throne ; from whence deep thunders roai 

Mustering their rage, and Heaven resembles Hell ? 

As he our darkness, cannot we his light 

Imitate when we please ? This desert soil 

Wants not her hidden lustre, gems and gold ; 

Nor want we skill or art, from whence to raise 

Magnificence ; and what can heaven show more ? 

Our torments also may in length of time 

Become our elements ; these piercing fires 

As soft as now severe, our temper changed 

Into their temper ; which must needs remove 

The sensible of pain. All things invite 

To peaceful counsels, and the settled state 

Of order, how in safety best we may 

Compose our present evils, with regard 

Of what we are, and where, dismissing quite 

All thoughts of war. Ye have what I advise." 

He scarce had finish'd, when such murmur fill'd 
The assembly, as when hollow rocks retain 
The sound of blustering winds, which all night long 
Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence luU 
Seafaring men o'erwatch'd, whose bark by chance 
Or pinnace anchors in a craggy bay 
After the tempest : such applause was heard 
As Mammon ended, and his sentence pleased, 
Advising peace ; for such another field 
They dreaded worse than Hell : so much the fear 
Of thunder and the sword of Michael 
Wrought still within them ; and no less desire 
To found this nether empire, which might rise 
By policy, and long process of time, 



44 PARADISE LOST, 

In emulation opposite to Heaven. 

Which when Beelzebub perceived, than whom 

Satan except, none higher sat, with grave 

Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd 

A pillar of state ; deep on his front engraven 

Deliberation sat, and public care ; 

And princely counsel in his face yet shone, 

Majestic, though in ruin ; sage he stood 

With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear 

The weight of mightiest monarchies ; his look 

Drew audience and attention still as night 

Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake : 

" Thrones, and im])erial powers, offspring of Heaven, 
Ethereal virtues ! or these titles now 
Must we renounce, and, changing style, be called 
Princes of hell? for so the ])opalar vote 
Inclines, here to continue, and build up here 
A growing empire ; doubtless ; while we dream, 
And know not that the King of Heaven hath doomed 
This place our dungeon, not our safe retreat 
Beyond his potent arm, to live exempt 
From Heaven's high jurisdiction, in new league 
Banded against his throne, but to remain 
In strictest bondage, though thus far removed 
Under the inevitable curb, reserved 
His captive multitude ; for he, be sure. 
In height or depth, still first and last will reign 
Sole king, and of his kingdom lose no part 
By our revolt ; but over Hell extend 
His empire, and with iron sceptre rule 
Us here, as with his golden those in Heaven. 
What sit we then projecting peace and war ? 
War hath determined us, and foiled with loss 
Irreparable ; terms of peace yet none 
Vouchsafed or sought ; for what peace will be given 
To us enslaved, but custody severe, 
And stripes, and arbitrary punishment 
Inflicted ? and what peace can we returnj 
But to our power hostility and hate. 
Untamed reluctance, and revenge though slow, 



PABADI8B LOST. 45 

Yet ever plotting how the Conqueror least 

May reap his conquest, and may least rejoice 

In doing what we most in suffering feel '? 

Nor will occasion want, nor shall we need 

With dangerous expedition to invade 

Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege, 

Or ambush from the deep. What if we find 

Some easier enterprise ? There is a place 

(If ancient and prophetic fame in Heaven 

Err not), another world, the happy seat 

Of some new race, call'd Man, about this time 

To be created like to us, though less 

In power and excellence, but favour'd more 

Of him who rules above ; so was his will 

Pronounced among the gods, and by an oath, 

That shook Heaven's whole circumference, confirm'd. 

Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn 

What creatures there inhabit, of what mould 

Or substance, how endued, and what their power, 

And where their weakness, how attempted best, 

By force or subtlety. Though Heaven be shut, 

And Heaven's high arbitrator sit secure 

In his own strength, this place may lie exposed. 

The utmost border of his kingdom, left 

To their defence who hold it : here, perhaps, 

Some advantageous act may be achieved 

By sudden onset, either with Hell-fire 

To waste his whole creation, or possess 

All as our own, and drive, as Ave were driven, 

The puny habitants ; or if not drive. 

Seduce them to our party, that their God 

May prove their foe, and with repenting hand 

Abolish his own works. This would surpass 

Common revenge, and interrupt his joy 

In our confusion, and our joy upraise 

In his disturbance ; when his darling sons, 

Hurled headlong to partake with us, shall curae 

Their frail original, and faded bliss. 

Faded so soon. Advise, if this be worth 

Attempting, or to sit in darkness here 



40 PABAUISB LOST. 

Hatching vain empires." Thus Beelzebub 
Pleaded his devilish counsel, first devised 
By Satan, and in part proposed ; for whence, 
But from the author of all ill, could spring 
So deep a malice to confound the race 
Of mankind in one root, and earth with Hell 
To mingle and involve, done all to spite 
The great Creator ? But their spite still serves 
His glory to augment. The bold design 
Pleased highly those infernal states, and joy 
S|>arkled in all their eyes ; with full assent 
They vote : whereat his speech he thus renews. 

" Well have ye judged, well ended long debate, 
Synod of gods ! and like to what ye are, 
Great things resolved, which from the lowest deep, 
Will once more lift us up, in spite of fate. 
Nearer our ancient seat ; perhaps in view 
Of those bright confines, whence with neighbouring arms 
And opportune excursions we may chance 
Re-enter Heaven ; or else in some mild zone 
Dwell, not un visited of Heaven's fair light, 
Secure, and at the brightening orient beam 
Purge off this gloom ; the soft delicious air. 
To heal the scar of these corrosive fires, 
Shall breath her balm. But first, whom shall we send 
In search of this new world ; whom shall we find 
Sufficient ? Who shall tempt with wandering feet 
The dark, unbottomed, infinite abyss. 
And through the palpable obscure find out 
His uncouth way, or spread his airy flight, 
Upborne with indefatigable wings. 
Over the vast abrupt, ere he arrive 
The happy isle ? What strength, what art can then 
Suffice, or what evasion bear him safe 
Through the strict sentries and stations thick 
Of angels watching round ? Here he had need 
All circumspection, and we now no less 
Choice in our suffrage ; for on whom we send, 
The weight of all and our last hope, relies." 

This said, he sat ; and expectation held 



PAEADI8H LOST. 47 

His look suspense, awaiting who appear'd 

To second or oppose, or undertake 

The perilous attempt : but all sat mute, 

Pondering the danger with deep thoughts ; and each 

In others' countenance read his own dismay 

Astonish'd : none among the choice and prime 

Of those heaven-warring champions coulu be found 

So hardy as to proffer or accept 

Alone the dreadful voyage ; till at last 

Satan, whom now transcendent glory raised 

Above his fellows, with monarchal pride 

Conscious of highest worth, unmoved thus spake. 

" O progeny of Heaven ! empyreal thrones ! 
With reason hath deep silence and demur 
Seized us, though uudismay'd : long is the way 
And hard, that out of Hell leads up to light ; 
Our prison strong ; this huge convex of fire, 
Outrageous to devour, immures us round 
Ninefold, and gates of burning adamant, 
Barred over us prohibit all egress. 
These pass'd, if any pass, the void profound 
Of unessential night receives him next 
Wide gaping, and with utter loss of being 
Threatens him plunged in that abortive gulf. 
If thence he 'scape into whatever world. 
Or unknown region, what remains him less 
Than unknown dangers, and as hard escape? 
But I should ill become this throne, O peers. 
And tviis imperial sovereignty, adorned 
With splendour, arra'd with power, if aught proposed 
And judged of public moment, in the shape 
Of difficulty or danger could deter 
Me from attempting. Wherefore do I assume 
These royalties, and not refus*'^ co reign, 
Refusing to accept as great a share 
Of hazard as of honour, due alike 
To him who reigns, and so much to him due 
Of hazard more, as he above the rest 
High honour'd sits ? Go, therefore, mighty powers, 
Terror of Heaven, though fallen ; intend at home. 



48 PARADISE LOST. 

While here shall be our home, what best may ease 

The present misery, and render Hell 

More tolerable ; if there be cure or charm 

To respite, or deceive, or slack the pain 

Of this ill-mansion : intermit no watch 

Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad 

Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek 

Deliverance for us all : this enterprise 

None shall partake with me." Thus saying rose 

The monarch, and prevented all reply, 

P) udent, lest from his resolution raised 

Otliers among the chief might offer now 

(Certain to be refused) what erst they fear'd ; 

And so refused might in opinion stand 

His rivals, winning cheap the high repute 

Which he through hazard huge must earn. But they 

Dreaded not more the adventure than his voice 

Forbidding ; and at once with him they rose ; 

Their rising all at once was as the sound 

Of thunder heard remote. Towards him they bend 

With awful reverence prone ; and as a god 

Extol him equal to the Highest in Heaven. 

Nor fail'd they to express how much they praised, 

That for the general safety he despised 

His own ; for neither do the spirits damned 

Lose all their virtue ; lest bad men should boast 

Their specious deeds on earth, which glory excitei. 

Or close ambition varnish'd o'er with zeal. 

Thus they their doubtful consultations dark 

Ended rejoicing in their matchless chief : 

As when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds 

Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread 

Heaven's cheerful face, the lowering element 

Scowls o'er the darken'd landskip snow or shower; 

If chance the radiant sun with farewell sweet 

Extend his evening beam, the fields revive, 

The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds 

Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings. 

O shame to men ! devil with devil damned 

Firm concord holds, men only disagree 



PARADISE LOST. 4i» 

Of creatures rational, though under hope 

Of heavenly gi-ace ; and, God proclaiming peace. 

Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife 

Among themselves, and levy cruel wars, 

Wasting the earth, each other to destroy : 

As if (which might induce us to accord) 

INIan had not hellish foes enow besides. 

That doy and night for his destruction wait. 

The Stygian council thus dissolved, and forth 
In order came the grand infernal peers : 
Midst came their mighty paramount, and seem'd 
Alone the antagonists of Heaven, nor less 
Than Hell's dread emperor with pomp supreme 
And god-like imitated state ; him round 
A globe of fiery seraphim enclosed 
With bright emblazonry and horrent arms 
Then of their session ended they bid cry 
With trumpets regal sound the great result : 
Toward the four winds four speedy cherubim 
Put to their mouths the sounding alchemy, 
By heralds' voice explained ; the hollow abyss 
Heard far and wide, and all the host of Hell 
With deafening shout returned them loud acclaim. 
Thence more at ease their minds, and somewhat raised 
By false presumptuous hope, the ranged powers 
Disband, and wandering, each his several way 
Pursues, as inclination or sad choice 
Leads him perplex'd, where he may likeliest find 
Truce to his restless thoiaghts, and entertain 
The irksome hours, till his great chief return. 
Part on the plain, or in the air sublime, 
Upon the wing, or in swift race contend. 
As at the Olympian games or Pythian fields ; 
Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal 
With rapid wheels, or fronted brigades form. 
As when, to warn proud cities, war appears 
Waged in the troubled sky, and armies rush 
To battle in the clouds, before each van 
Prick forth the airy knights, and couch their spean 
Till thickest legions close ; with feats of arms 

4 



50 PABADI8E LOST. 

From either end of heaven the welkin burns. 

Others with vast Typhoean rage, more fell, 

Rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air 

In whirlwind ; Hell scarce holds the wild uproar. 

As when Alcides, from Oechalia crowned 

With conquest, felt the envenomed robe, and tore 

Through pain up by the roots Thessalian pines, 

And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw 

Into th' Euboic sea. Others more mild, 

Retreated in a silent valley, sing 

With notes angelical to many a harp 

Their own heroic deeds and hapless fall 

By doom of battle ; and complain that fate 

Free virtue should enthral to force or chance. 

Their song was partial, but the harmony 

(What could it less when spirits immortal sing ?) 

Suspended Hell, and took with ravishment 

The thronsjing audience. In discourse more sweet 

(For eloquence the soul, song charms the sense) 

Others apart sat on a hill retired. 

In thoughts more elevate, and reason'd high 

Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate, 

Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute, 

And found no end, in wandering mazes lost. 

Of good and evil much they argued then. 

Of happiness and final misery, 

Passion and apathy, and glory and shame. 

Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy : 

Yet with a pleasing sorcery could charm 

Pain for a while, or anguish, and excite 

Fallacious hope, or arm the obdured breast 

With stubborn patience as with triple steel. 

Another part, in squadrons and gross bands. 

On bold adventure to discover wide 

That dismal world, if any clime perhaps 

Might yield them easier habitation, bend 

Four ways their flying march, along the banks 

Of four infernal rivers, that disgorge 

Into the burning lake their baleful streams ; 

Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate ; 



PARADISE LOST. 51 

Sad Acheron, of sorrow, black and deep, 

Cocytus, named of lamentation loud 

Heard on the rueful steam ; fierce Phlegethon, 

Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. 

Far off from these a slow and silent stream, 

Leihe, the riA^er of oblivion, rolls 

Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks, 

Forthwith his former state and being forgets. 

Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain. 

Beyond this flood a frozen continent 

Lies dark and wild, beat with per])etual storms 

Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land 

Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems 

Of ancient pile ; all else deep snow and ice, 

A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog 

Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, 

Where armies whole have sunk : the parching air 

Burns frore, and cold performs the effect of fire. 

Thither, by harpy-footed furies haled, 

At certain revolutions all the damned 

Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change 

Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierco J 

From beds of ra^^ing: fire to starve in ice 

Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine 

Immoveable, infixed, and frozen round, 

Periods of time ; thence hurried back to fire, 

They ferry over this Lethean sound 

Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, 

And wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach 

The tempting stream, with one small drop to lose 

[n sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe. 

All in one moment, and so near the brink; 

But fate withstands, and to oppose the attempt 

Medusa with Gorgonian terror guards 

The ford, and of itself the water flies 

All taste of living wight^ as once it fled 

The lip of Tantalus. Thus roving on 

In confused march forlorn, the adventurous bands 

With shuddering horror pale, and eyes aghast. 

Viewed first their lamentable j-^t, and found 



52 PAEADISK LOST. 

No rest ; through many a dark and dreary vale • 

They passed, and many a region dolorous, 

O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp, 

Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death, 

A universe of death, which God by curse 

Created evil, for evil only good, 

Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds, 

Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, 

Abominable, unutterable, and worse 

Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived, 

Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimseras dire. 

Meanwhile tlie adversary of God and man, 
Satan, with thoughts inflamed of highest design, 
Puts on swift wings, and towards the gates of Hell 
Explores his solitary flight : sometimes 
He scours the right hand coast, sometimes the left; 
Now shaves with level wing the deep, then soars 
Up to the fiery concave towering high. 
As when far off at sea a fleet descried 
Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds 
Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles 
Of Ternate and Tidore, whence merchants bring 
Their spicy drugs ; they on the trading flood 
Through the wide Ethiopian to the cape 
Ply stemming nightly towards the pole. So seemed 
Far off the flying fiend : at last appear 
Hell bounds, high reaching to the horrid roof. 
And thrice threefold the gates ; threefolds were brasB 
Three iron, three of adamantine rock. 
Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire, 
Yet unconsumed. Before the gates there sat 
On either side a formidable shape ; 
The one seemed woman to the waist, and fair, 
But ended foul in many a scaly fold 
Voluminous and vast, a serpent armed 
With mortal sting : about her middle round 
A cry of hell-hounds never ceasing barked 
With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung 
A hideous peal ; yet, when they list, would creep, 
If aught disturbed their noise, into her womb» 



PABADI8E LOST. 53 

And kennel there ; yet there still barked and howled 

Within unseen. Far less abhorred than these 

Vexed Scylla, lathing in the sea that parts 

Calabria from the hoarse Trinacrian shore : 

Nor uglier follow the night-hag, when, called 

In secret, riding through the air she comes, 

Lured with the smell of infant blood, to dance 

With Lapland witches while the labouring moon 

Eclipses at their charms. The other shape. 

If shape it might be called that shape had none 

Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, 

Or substance might be called that shadow seemed, 

For each seemed either ; black it stood as night, 

Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, 

And shook a dreadful dart ; what seemed his head 

The likeness of a kingly crown had on. 

Satan was now at hand ; and from his seat 

The monster moving onward came as fast 

With horrid strides ; Hell trembled as he strode. 

The undaunted fiend what this might be admired, 

Admired, not feared ; God and his Son except, 

Created thing nought valued he nor shunned ; 

And with disdainful look thus first began : 

" Whence and what art thou, execrable shape, 
That darest, though grim and terrible, advance 
Thy miscreated front athwart my way 
To yonder gates ? Through them I mean to pass, 
That be assured, without leave asked of thee : 
Retire, or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, 
Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of Heaven." 

To whom the goblin full of wrath replied : 
** Art thou that traitor angel, art thou he. 
Who first broke peace in Heaven and faith, till then 
Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms 
Drew after him the third part of Heaven's sons, 
Conjtired against the Highest ; for which both thou 
And they, outcast from God, are here condemned 
To waste eternal days in woe and pain ? 
And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of Heaven, 
Hell-doomed, and breath'st defiance here and scorn. 



54 PARADISK LOST. 

Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more, 
Thy king and lord ? Back to thy punishment, 
False fugitive, and to thy sj^eed add wings. 
Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue 
Thy lingering, or with one stroke of this dart 
Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before." 

So spake the grisly terror, and in shape. 
So speaking and so threatening, gi-ew tenfold 
More dreadful and deform : on the other side, 
Incensed with indignation, Satan stood 
ITnterrified, and like a comet burned, 
That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge 
In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair 
Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head 
Levelled his deadly aim ; their fatal hands 
No second stroke intend ; and such a frown 
Each cast at the other, as when two black clouds, 
With Heaven's artillery fraught, come rattling on 
Over the Caspian, then stand front to front, 
Hovering a sjiace, till winds the signal blow 
To join their dark encounter in mid-air : 
So frowned the mighty combatants, that Hell 
Grew darker at their frown, so matched they stood ; 
For never but once more was either like 
To meet so great a foe : and now great Ceeds 
Had been achieved, whereof all Hell had rung, 
Had not the snaky sorceress that sat. 
Fast by Hell-gate, and kept the fatal key, 
Risen, and with hideous outcry rushed between. 

" O father, what intends thy hand," she cried, 
V Against thy only son ? What fury, O son, 
Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart 
Against thy father's head ? and knowest for whom? 
For him who sits above and laughs the while 
'At thee ordained his drudge, to execute 
Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids ; 
His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both.'* 

She spake, and at her words the hellish pest 
Forbore, then these to her Satan returned : 

"So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange 



PARADISE LOST. 56 

Thou interposes., that my sudden hand 
Prevented spares to tell thee yet by deeds 
What it intends ; till first I know of thee, 
What thing thou art, thus double-formed, and ^ hy 
In this infernal vale first met, thoii calFst 
Me father, and that phantasm eallest my son ; 
I know thee not, nor ever saw till now 
Sight more detestable than him and thee." 

To whom thus the portress of Hell-gate replied : 
" Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem 
Now in thine eye so foul ? once deemed so fair 
In Heaven, when at the assembly, and in sight 
Of all the seraphim with thee combined 
In bold conspiracy against Heaven's King, 
All on a sudden miserable pain 
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum 
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast 
Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide, 
Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright, 
Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed. 
Out of thy head I sprung : amazement seized 
All the host of Heaven ; back they recoiled afraid 
At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign 
Portentous held me ; but, familiar grown, 
I pleased, and with attractive graces won 
The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft 
Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing 
Became enamoured, and such joy thou took'st 
With me in secret, that my womb conceived 
A growing burden. Meanwhile w'ar arose. 
And fields were fought in Heaven ; wherein remained 
(For what could else ?) to our almighty foe 
Clear victory, to our part loss and rout 
Through all the empyi-ean : down they fell 
Driven headlong from the pitch of Heaven, down 
Into this deep, and in the general fall 
I also ; at which time this powerful key 
Into my hand was given, with charge to keep 
These gates for ever shut, which none can pass 
Without my opening. Pensive here I sat 



56 PAEADISK LOST. 

Alone, but long I sat not, till my womb, 
Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown, 
Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes. 
At last this odious offspring whom thou seeat, 
Thine own begotten, breaking violent way, 
Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain 
Distorted, all ray nether shape thus grew 
Transformed : but he my inbred enemy 
Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart 
Made to destroy ; I fled, and cried out ' Death ! * 
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sighed 
From all her caves, and back resounded ' Death I ' 
I fled, but he pursued (though more, it seems, 
Inflamed with lust than rage), and swifter far, 
Me overtook, his mother, all dismayed, 
And in embraces forcible and foul 
Engendering with me, of that rape begot 
These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry 
Surround me, as thou sawest, hourly conceived 
And hourly born, with sorrow infinite 
To me ; for when they list, into the womb 
That bred them they return, and howl, and gnaw 
My bowels, their repast ; then bursting forth 
Afresh with conscious terrors vex me round, 
That rest or intermission none I find. 
Before mine eyes in opposition sits 
Grim Death, my son and foe, who sets them on. 
And me his parent would full soon devour 
For want of other prey, but that he knows 
His end with mine involved ; and knows that I 
Sliould prove a bitter morsel, and his bane, 
Whenever that shall be ; so fate pronounced. 
But thou, O father, I forewarn thee, shun 
His deadly arrow ; neither vainly hope 
To be invulnerable in those bright arms. 
Though tempered heavenly ; for that mortal dint, 
Save he who reigns above, none can resist." 
She finished, and the subtle fiend his lore 
Soon learned, now milder, and thus answered smooth : 
" Dear daughter, since thou claim'st me for thy sire, 



PABADISB I'OST. 57 

And my fair son here show'st me, the dear pledge 

Of dalliance had with thee in Heaven, and Joys 

Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change 

Befallen us unforeseen, unthought of ; know 

I come no enemy, but to set free 

From out this dark and dismal house of pain 

Both him and thee, and all the heavenly host 

Of spirits, that in our just pretenses armed, 

Fell with us from on high : from them I go 

This uncouth errand sole ; and, one for all, 

Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread 

The unfounded deep, and through the void immense 

To search with wandering quest a place foretold 

Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now 

Created vast and round ; a place of bliss 

In the purlieus of Heaven, and therein placed 

A race of upstart creatures, to supply 

Perhaps our vacant room, though more removed, 

Lest Heaven, surcharged with potent multitude, 

Might hap to move new broils : be this or aught 

Than this more secret now designed, I haste 

To know, and, this once known, shall soon return, 

And bring ye to the place where thou and Death 

Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen 

Wing silently the buxom air, imbalmed 

With odours ; there ye shall be fed and filled 

Immeasurably ; all things shall be your prey." 

He ceased, for both seemed highly pleased, and Death 
Grinned horrible a ghastly smile, to hear 
His famine should be filled, and blessed his maw 
Destined to that good hour : no less rejoiced 
His mother bad, and thus bespake her sire : 

'' The key of this infernal pit by due, 
And by command of Heaven's all-powerfid King 
1 keep, by him forbidden to unlock 
These adamantine gates ; against all force 
Death ready stands to interpose his dart. 
Fearless to be o'ermatched by living might. 
But what owe I to his commands above 
Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down 



58 PARADISB LOST. 

Into this gloom of Tartarus profound, 
?o sit in hateful office here confined, 
Inhabitant of Heaven, and heavenly-bom, 
Here in perpetual agony and pain. 
With terrors and with clamours compassed round 
Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed? 
Thou art my father, thou my author, thou 
My being gavest me ; whom should I obey 
But thee ? whom follow ? thou wilt bring me soon 
To that new world of light and bliss, among 
The gods who live at ease, where I shall reign 
At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems 
Thy daughter and thy darling, without end." 

Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, 
Sad instrument of all our woe, she took ; 
And towards the gate rolling her bestial train, 
Forthwith the huge portcullis high up drew. 
Which, but herself, not all the Stygian powers 
Could once have moved ; then in the key-hole turns 
The intricate wards, and every bolt and bar 
Of massy iron or solid rock with ease 
Unfastens : on a sudden open fly. 
With impetuous recoil and jarring sound 
The infernal doors, and on their hinges grate 
Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook 
Of Erebus. She opened, but to shut 
Excelled her power ; the gates wide open stood, 
That with extended wings a bannered host, 
Under spread ensigns marching might pass through 
With horse and chariots ranked in loose array ; 
So wide they stood, and like a furnace mouth 
Cast forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame. 
Before their eyes in sudden view appear 
The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark 
Illimitable ocean, without bound. 

Without dimension, where length, breadth, and heighk| 
And time, and place, are lost ; whei-e eldest Night 
And Chaos, ancestors of nature, hold 
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise 
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand. 



PARADISE LOST. 59 

For Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry, four champions fierce, 

Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring 

Their einbryon atoms : they around the flag 

Of each his faction, in their several clans, 

Light armed or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift* or slow, 

Swarm populous, unnumbered as the sands 

Of Barca or Gyrene's torrid soil. 

Levied to side with warring winds, and poise 

Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere, 

He rules a moment ; Chaos umpire sits, 

And by decision more embroils the fray 

By which he reigns : next him high arbiter 

Chance governs all. Into this wild abyss, 

Tlie womb of nature, and perhaps her grave, 

Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire, 

But all these in their pregnant causes mixed 

Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight. 

Unless the almighty Maker them ordain 

His dark materials to create more worlds ; 

Into this wild abyss the wary fiend 

Stood on the brink of Hell, and looked a while, 

Pondering his voyage ; for no narrow frith 

He had to cross. Nor was his ear less pealed 

With noises loud and ruinous (to compare 

Great things with small) than when Bollona storma, 

With all her battering engines bent to raze 

Some capital city ; or less than if this frame 

Of Heaven were falling, and these elements 

In mutiny had from her axle torn 

The steadfast earth. At last his sail-broad vans 

He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoke 

Uplifted spurns the ground ; thence many a league, 

As in a cloudy chair, ascending rides 

Audacious ; but, that seat soon failing, meets 

A vast vacuity : all unawares, 

Fluttering his pennons vain, plumb down he dropi 

Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour 

Down had been falling, had not by ill chance 

The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud, 

Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him 



60 PABADI8B LOST. 

As many miles aloft : that fury stayed, 

Quenched in a boggy Syrtis, neitlier sea, 

Nor good dry land : nigh foundered, on he fares 

Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, 

Half flying ; behoves hira now both oar and sail. 

As when a gryphon through the wilderness 

With winged course, o'er hill or moory dale, 

Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth 

Had from his wakeful custody purloined 

The guarded gold : so eagerly the fiend 

O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, 

With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way 

And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies ; 

At length a universal hubbub wild 

Of stunning sounds and voices all confused, 

Borne through the hollow dark, assaults his ear 

With loiidest vehemence : thither he plies, 

Undaunted, to meet there whatever power 

Or 8])irit of the nethermost abyss 

Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask 

Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies 

Bordering on light ; when straight beliold the throne 

Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread 

Wide on the wasteful deep; with him enthroned 

Sat sable-vested Night, eldest of things. 

The consort of his reign, and by them stood 

Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name 

Of Demogorgon ; Rumour next, and Chance, 

And Tumult, and Confusion, all embroiled. 

And Discord with a thousand various mouths. 

To whom Satan turning boldly, thus : "Ye powers 
And spirits of this nethermost abyss, 
Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy, 
With purpose to explore or to disturb 
The secrets of your realm, but, by constraint 
Wandering this darksome desert, as my way 
Lies through your spacious empire up to light, 
Alone, and without guide, half lost, I seek 
What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds 
Confine with Heaven : or, if some other place, 



PARADISE LOST. 61 

From your dominion M'on, the ethereal king 

Possesses lately, thither to arrive 

I travel this profound ; direct my course; 

Directed, no mean recompense it brings 

To your behoof, if I that region lost, 

All usurpation thence expelled, reduce 

To her original darkness and your sway 

(Which is my present journey), and once more 

Erect the standard there of ancient Night; 

Yours be the advantage all, mine the revenge." 

Thus Satan ; and him thus the Anarch old, 
With faltering speech and visage incomposed, 
Answered : " I know thee, stranger, who thou art 
That mighty leading angel, who of late 
Made head against Heaven's King, though overthrown. 
I saw and heard, for such a numerous host 
Fled not in silence through the frighted deep 
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout. 
Confusion worse confounded ; and Heaven-gates 
Poured out by millions her victorious bands 
Pursuing. I upon my frontiers here 
Keep residence ; if all I can will serve 
That little which is left so to defend. 
Encroached on still through your intestine broils, 
Weakening the sceptre of old Night : first Hell, 
Your dungeon, stretching far and wide beneath; 
Now lately Heaven and Earth, another world, 
Hung o'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain 
To that side Heaven from whence your legions felL 
If that way be your walk, you have not far; 
So much the nearer danger ; go, and speed ; 
Havoc, and spoil, and ruin, are my gain," 

Ife ceased ; and Satan stayed not to reply, 
But glad that now his sea should find a shore, 
With fresh alacrity and force renewed 
Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire, 
Into the wild expanse, and through the shock 
Of fighting elements, on all sides round 
Environed, wins his way, harder beset 
And more endangered, than when Argo passed 



62 PARADISE LOST. 

Through Bosphorus, betwixt the justling rocka • 

Or when Ulysses on the larboard shunned 

Charybdis, and by the other whirlpool steered 

So he with difficulty and labour hard 

Moved on, with difficulty and labour he ; 

But he once passed, soon after, when man fell, 

Strange alteration ! Sin and Death amain 

Following his track (such was the will of Heaven) 

Paved after him a broad and beaten way 

Over the dark abyss, whose boilinggulf 

Tamely endured a bridge of wondrous length, 

From Ilell continued, reaching the utmost orb 

Of this frail world, by which the spirits perverse 

With easy intercourse pass to and fro 

To tempt or punish mortals, except whom 

God and good angels guard by special grace. 

But now at last the sacred influence 

Of light appears, and from the walls of Heaven 

Shoots far into the bosom of dim Night 

A glimmering dawn ; here Nature first begins 

Her farthest verge, and Chaos to retire, 

As from her utmost works, a broken foe, 

With tumult less, and with less hostile din, 

That Satan wdth less toil, and now with ease 

Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light, 

And like a weather-beaten vessel holds 

Gladly the port, though shrouds and tackle tora| 

Or in the emptier waste, resembling air, 

Weighs his spread wings, at leisure to behold 

Far off the empyreal Heaven, extended wide 

In circuit, undetermined square or round, 

With opal towers and battlements adorned 

Of living sapphire, once his native seat ; 

And fast by, hanging in a golden chain. 

This pendent world, in bigness as a star 

Of smallest magnitude close by the moon. 

Thither, full fraught with mischievous revenge, 

Accursed, and in a cursed hour, he hies. 



fASADISS LOST. 63 



BOOK III. 



THE JlEGUMENT. 



8oD, Bitting on His throne, sees Satan flying towards this world, then 
newly created : shows him to the Son, who sat at His right hand ; fore- 
tells the success of Satan in perverting mankind ; cleais his own justice 
and wisdom from all imputation, having created man free, and able 
enough to have withstood his tempter ; yet declares his purpose of grace 
towards him, in regard he fell not of his own malice, as did Satan, but bv 
him seduced. The Son of God renders praises to his Father for the mani- 
festation of his gracious purjiose towards man ; but God again declares 
that grace cannot be extended towards man without the satisfaction of 
divine justice ; man hath offended the majesty of God by aspiring to 
godhead, and therefore with all his progeny devoted to death must 
die, unless some one can be found sufficient to answer for his offence, and 
undergo his punishment. The Son of God freely offers himself a ransom 
for man; The Father accepts him, ordains his incarnation, pronounces 
His exaltation above all names in Heaven and Earth; commands all the 
angels to adore him ; they obey, and by hymning to their harps in full 
quire, celebrate the Father and the Son. Meanwhile Satan alights upon 
the bare convex of this world's outermost orb; where wandering he first 
finds a place, since called the Limbo of Vanity; what persons and things 
fly up thither; thence comes to the gate of Heaven, described ascending 
by stairs, and the waters above the firmament that flow about it: his pas- 
sage thence to the orb of the sun; he finds there Uriel, the regent of that 
orb, but first changes himself into the shape of a meaner angel; and 
pretending a zealous desire to behold the new creation, and man whom 
God had placed here, inquires of him the place of his habitation, and 
is directed: alights first on mount Niphates. 

Hail, holy Light ! offspring of Heaven firstborn 1 
Or of the Eternal coeternal beam, 
May I express thee unblamed? since God is light, 
And never but in nnapproached light 
Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee, 
Bright effluence of bright essence increate. 
Or hear'st thou rather pure ethereal stream. 
Whose fountain who shall tell ? Before the snn, 
Before the Heaven thou wert ; and at the voice 
Of God, as with a mantle didst invest 



64 PARADISH LOST. 

The rising world of waters dark and deep, 

Won from the void and formless infinite. 

Thee I re\'i8it now with bolder wing, 

Escaped the Stygian pool, though long detained 

In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight 

Through utter and through middle darkness borne 

With other notes than to the Orphean lyre 

I sung of Chaos and eternal Night ; 

Taught by the heavenly muse to venture down 

The dark descent, and up to re ascend. 

Though hard and rare : Thee I revisit safe, 

And feel thy sovereign vital lamp ; but thou 

Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain 

To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn ; 

So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs, 

Or dim suffusion veile<L Yet not the more 

Cease I to wander, where the Muses haunt 

Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill, 

Smit with tlie love of sacred song ; but chief 

Thee, Sion, and the floM^ery brooks beneath, 

That washed thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow 

Nightly I visit : nor sometimes forget 

Those other two equalled with me in fate, 

60 were I equalled with them in renown, 

Blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides, 

And Tiresias and Phineas, prophets old : 

Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move 

Harmonious numbers ; as the wakeful bird 

Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid 

Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus with the year 

Seasons return, but not to me returns 

Day, or the sweet approach of even or mom, 

Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, 

Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine; 

But cloud instead, and ever-during dark 

Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men 

Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair 

Presented with a universal blank 

Of nature's works to me expunged and rased. 

And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out. 



PARADISE LOST. 65 

So much the rather thou, celestial Light, 

Shine inward, and the mind through all her powert 

Irradiate; there plant eyes, all mist from thence 

Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell 

Of thinjre invisible to mortal sight. 

Now had the Almighty Father from above, 
From the pure empyrean where he sits 
High throned above all height, bent down his eye, 
His own works and their works at once to view : 
About him all the sanctities of Heaven 
Stood th'ck as stars, and from his sight received 
Beatitude past utterance ; on his right 
The radiant image of his glory sat. 
His only Son ; on earth he first beheld 
Our two first parents, yet the only two 
Of mankind, in the happy garden placed, 
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love. 
Uninterrupted joy, unrivalled love, 
In blissful solitude ; he then surveyed 
Hell and the gulf between, and Satan there 
Coasting the wall of Heaven on this side Night, 
In the dun air sublime, and ready now 
To stoop with wearied wings and willing feet 
On the bare outside of this world, that seemed 
Firm land embosomed, without firmament. 
Uncertain which, in ocean or in air. 
Him God beholding from his prospect high, 
Wherein past, present, future, he beholds, 
Thus to his only Son forseeing spake : 

" Only begotten Son, seest thou what rage 
Transports our adversary ? M'hom no bounds 
Prescribed, no bars of Hell, nor all the chains 
Heaped on him there, nor yet the main abyss 
Wide interrupt, can hold ; so bent he seems 
On desperate revenge, that shall redound 
Upon his own rebellious head. And now 
Through all restraint broke loose he wings his way 
Not far off Heaven, in the precincts of light, 
Directly towards the new-created world. 
And man there placed, with purpose to essay 

5 



66 rXEADISE LOST. 

If him by force he can destroy, or worse, 

By some false guile pervert ; and shall pervert, 

For man will hearken to his gloziug lies. 

And easily transgress the sole command. 

Sole pledge of his obedience : so will fall 

He and his faithless progeny : whose fault ? 

Whose but his own ? Ingrate, he had of me 

All he could have : 1 made him just and right, 

Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall. 

Such I created all the ethereal powers 

And spirits, both them who stood, and them who fail'd ; 

Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell. 

Not free, what proof could they have given sincere 

Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love. 

Where only what they needs must do appeared, 

Not what they would ? what praise could they receive ? 

What pleasure I from such obedience paid, 

When will and reason (reason also is choice) 

Useless and vain, of freedom both despoiled, 

Made passive both, had served necessity. 

Not me ? They therefore as to right belonged, 

So were created, nor can justly accuse 

Their Maker, or their making, or their fate, 

As if predestination over-ruled 

Their will, disposed by absolute decree 

Or high foreknowledge ; they themselves decreed 

Their own revolt, not I ; if I foreknew, 

Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault, 

Which had no less proved certain unforeknown. 

So without least impulse or shadow of fate, 

Or aught by me immutably foreseen. 

They trespass, authors to themselves in all 

Both what they judge, and what they choose; for so 

I formed them free : and free they must remain, 

Till they enthral themselves ; I else must change 

Their nature, and revoke the high decree 

Unchangeable, eternal, which ordained 

Their freedom ; they themselves ordained their falL 

Tlie first sort by their own suggestion fell. 

Self-tempted, self-depraved : man falls deceived 



PABADISB LOST. 67 

By the other first ; man therefore shall find giace, 
The other none : in mercy and justice both, 
Through Heaven and earth, so shall my glory excel; 
But mercy, first and last, shall brightest shine." 

Thus while God spake ambrosial fragrance filled 
All Heaven, and in the blessed spirits elect 
Sense of new joy ineffable diffused : 
Beyond compare the Son of God was seen 
Most glorious ; in him all his Father shone 
Substantially expressed ; and in his face 
Divine compassion visibly appeared, 
Love without end, and without measure grace, 
Which uttering thus he to his father spake : 

" O Father, gracious was that word which closed 
Thy sovereign sentence, that man should find grace ; 
For which both Heaven and earth shall high extol 
Thy praises, with the innumerable sound 
Of hymns and sacred songs, wherewith thy throne 
Encompassed shall resound thee ever blessed. 
For should man finally be lost, should man. 
Thy creature late so loved, thy youngest son, 
Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though joined 
With his own folly ? that be from thee far. 
That far be from thee, Father, who art judge 
Of all things made, and judgest only right. 
Or shall the adversary thus obtain 
His end, and frustrate thine ? shall he fulfil 
His malice, and thy goodness bring to nought, 
Or proud return, though to his heavier doom. 
Yet with revenge accomplished, and to Hell 
Draw after him the whole race of mankind, 
By him corrupted ? or wilt thou thyself 
Abolish thy creation, and unmake 
For him, what for thy glory thou hast made ? 
So should thy goodness and thy greatness both 
Be questioned and blasphemed without defence.** 

To whom the great Creator thus replied : 
" O Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight. 
Son of my bosom, Son who art alone 
My word, my wisdom, and effectual might, 



68 PABADIgE LOST. 

All hast thou spoken as my thoughts are, all • 

As my eternal purpose hath decreed : 

Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will. 

Yet not of will in him, but grace in me 

Freely vouchsafed ; once more I will renew 

His lapsed powers, though forfeit, and enthralled 

By sin to foul exorbitant desires ; 

Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand 

On even ground against his mortal foe, 

By me upheld, that he may know how frail 

His fallen condition is, and to me owe 

All his deliverance, and to none but me. 

Some I have chosen of peculiar grace 

Elect above the rest ; so is my will : 

The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warned 

Their sinful state, and to appease betimes 

The incensed Deity, while offered grace 

Invites ; for I will clear their senses dark, 

What may suffice, and soften stony hearts 

To pray, repent, and bring obedience due. 

To prayer, repentance, and obedience due, 

Though but endeavoured with sincere intent, 

Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut. 

And I will place within them as a guide 

My umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear. 

Light after light well used they shall attain, 

And to the end persisting, safe arrive. 

This my long sufferance and my day of grace, 

They who neglect and scorn sliall never taste ; 

But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more, 

That they may stumble on, and deeper fall ; 

And none but such from mercy I exclude. 

But yet all is not done : man disobeying, 

Disloyal breaks his fealty, and sins 

Against the high supremacy of Heaven, 

Affecting godhead, and so losing all. 

To expiate his treason hath nought left, 

But to destruction sacred and devote, 

He with his whole posterity must die. 

Die he or justice must ; unless for him 



PAEADI8B LOST. 69 

Some other able, and as willing, pay 

The rigid satisfaction — death for death. 

Say, heavenly powers, where shall we find such love? 

Which of ye will be mortal to redeem 

Man's mortal crime, and just the unjust to save ? 

Dwells in all Heaven charity so dear ! " 

He asked ; but all the heavenly quire stood mute, 
And silence was in Heaven : on man's behalf 
Patron or intercessor none appeared. 
Much less that durst upon his own head draw 
The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set. 
And now without redemption all mankind 
Must have been lost, adjudged to death and Hell 
By doom severe, had not the Son of God, 
In whom the fulness dwells of love divine, 
His dearest mediation thus renewed : 

" Father, Thy word is past, man shall find grace ; 
And shall grace not find means, that finds her way, 
The speediest of thy winged messengers, 
To visit all thy creatures, and to all 
Comes unprevented, unimplored, unsought? 
Happy for man, so coming ; he her aid 
Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost ; 
Atonement for himself or offering meet. 
Indebted and undone, hath none to bring : 
Behold me then ; me for him, life for life, 
I offer ; on me let thine anger fall ; 
Account me man ; I for his sake will leave 
Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee 
Freely put off, and for him lastly die 
Well pleased ; on me let Death wreak all his rage ; 
Under his gloomy power I shall not long 
Lie vanquished ; thou hast given me to possess 
Life in myself for ever ; by thee I live. 
Though now to Death I yield, and am his due 
All that of me can die ; yet, that debt paid, 
Thou wilt not leave me in the loathsome grave 
His prey, nor suffer my unspotted soul 
For ever with corruption there to dwell ; 
But I shall rise victorious, and subdue 



70 PA^BADISE LOST. 

My vanquisher, spoiled of his vaunted spoil ; 

Death his death's vround shall then receive, and stoop 

Inglorious, of his mortal sting disarmed. 

I through the ample air in triumph high 

Shall lead Hell captive, maugre Hell, and show 

The powers of darkness bound. Thou at the sight 

Pleased, out of Heaven shall look down and smile, 

While by thee raised I ruin all my foes. 

Death last, and with his carcass glut the grave : 

Then with the multitude of my redeemed 

Shall enter Heaven, long absent, and return, 

Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud 

Of anger shall remain, but peace assured 

And reconcilement ; wrath shall be no more 

Thenceforth, but in thy presence joy entire." 

His words here ended, but his meek aspect 
Silent yet spake, and breathed immortal love 
To mortal men, above which only shone 
Filial obedience ; as a sacrifice 
Glad to be offered, he attends the will 
Of his great Father. Admiration seized 
All Heaven, what this might mean, and whither tend. 
Wondering ; but soon the Almighty thus replied : 

" O thou, in Heaven and earth the only peace 
Found out for mankind under wrath, O thou, 
My soul complacence ! well thou know'st how dear 
To me are all my works, nor man the least, 
Though last created ; that for him I spare 
Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save, 
By losing thee awhile, the whole race lost. 
Thou therefore, whom thou only canst redeem, 
Their nature also to thy nature join ; 
And be thyself man among men on earth. 
Made flesh, when time shall be, of virgin seed. 
By wondrous birth: be thou in Adam's room 
The head of all mankind, though Adam's son. 
As in him perish all men, so in thee, 
As from a second root, shall be restored 
As many as are restored, without thee none. 
His crime makes guilty all his sons ; thy merit, 



PABADISH LOST. 71 

Imputed shall absolve them who renounce 

Their own both righteous and unrighteous doeds 

And live in thee transplanted, and from thee 

Receive new life. So man, as is most just, 

Shall satisfy for man, be judged and die, 

And dying rise, and rising with him, raise 

His brethren, ransomed with his own dear life. 

So heavenly love shall outdo hellish hate, 

Giving to death, and dying to redeem, 

So dearly to redeem what hellish hate 

So easily destroyed, and still destroys 

In those who, when they may, accept not grace. 

Nor shalt thou, by descending to assume 

Man's nature, lessen or degrade thine own. 

Because thou hast, though throned in highest bliss 

Equal to God, and equally enjoying 

God-like fruition, quitted all to save 

A world from utter loss, and hast been found 

By merit more than birthright Son of God, 

Found worthiest to be so by being good. 

Far more than great or high ; because in thee 

Love hath abounded more than glory abounds, 

Therefore thy humiliation shall exalt 

With thee thy manhood also to this throne ; 

Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shalt reign 

Both God and man, Son both of God and man, 

Anointed universal King ; all power 

I give thee ; reign for ever, and assume 

Thy merits ; under thee as head supreme 

Thrones, princedoms, powers, dominions I reduce: 

All knees to thee shall bow, of them that bide 

In heaven or earth, or under earth in Hell. 

When thou, attended gloriously from Heaven, 

Shalt in the sky appear, and from thee send 

The summoning archangels to proclaim 

Thy dread tribunal ; forthwith from all winds 

The living, and forthwith the cited dead 

Of all past ages, to the general doom 

Shall hasten, such a peal shall rouse their sleep. 

Then, all thy saints assembled, thou shalt judge 



72 PARADISE LOST. 

Bad men and angels ; they arraigned shall sink 

Beneath thy sentence ; Hell, her numbers full, 

Thenceforth shall be forever shut. Meanwhile 

The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring 

New Heaven and earth, wherein the just shall dwell, 

And after all their tribulations long 

See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds, 

With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth. 

Then thou thy regal sceptre shalt lay by, 

For regal sceptre then no more shall need ; 

God shall be all in all. But, all ye gods, 

Adore him who to compass all this dies ; 

Adore the Son, and honour him as me." 

No sooner had the Almighty ceased, but aU 
The multitude of angels, with a shout 
Loud as from numbers without number, sweet 
As from blessed voices, uttering joy. Heaven rung 
With jubilee, and loud Hosannas filled 
The eternal regions : lowly reverent 
Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground 
With solemn adoration down they cast 
Their crowns inwove with amarant and gold ; 
Immortal amarant, a flower which once 
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 
Began to bloom ; but soon for man's offence 
To Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows, 
And flowers aloft shading the fount of life. 
And where the river of bliss through midst of Heaven 
Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream ; 
With these, that never fade, the spirits elect 
Bind their resplendent locks en wreathed with beamg : 
Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright 
Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone, 
Empurpled with celestial roses, smiled. 
Then, crowned again, their golden harps they took, 
Harps ever tuned, that glittering by their side 
liike quivers hung, and with preamble sweet 
Of charming symphony they introduce 
Their sacred song, and waken raptures high ; 
No voice exempt, no voice but well could join 



PASADISB LOST. 78 

Melodioue part, such concord is in Heaven. 

" Thee, Father," first they sung, " Omnipotent, 
Immutable, Immortal, Infinite, 
Eternal King ; thee. Author of all being, 
Fountain of light, thyself invisible 
Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitt'st 
Throned inaccessible, but when thou shad'st 
The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud 
Drawn round about thee like a radiant shrine, 
Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear. 
Yet dazzle Heaven, that brightest seraphim 
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes. 
Thee," next they sang, " of all creation first, 
Begotten Son, Divine Similitude, 
In whose conspicuous count'nance, without cload 
Made visible, the Almighty Father shines. 
Whom else no creature can behold ; on thee 
Impressed the effulgence of his glory abides. 
Transfused on thee his ample Spirit rests. 
He Heaven of Heavens, and all the powers therein 
By thee created, and by thee threw down 
The aspiring dominations : thou that day 
Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare, 
Kor stop thy flaming chariot wheels, that shook 
Heaven's everlasting frame, while o'er the necks 
Thou drov'st of warring angels disarrayed 
Back from pursuit thy powers with loud acclaim 
Thee only extolled, Sou of thy Father's might, 
To execute fierce vengeance on his foes, 
Not so on man : him, through their malice fallen, 
Father of mercy and grace, thou didst not doom 
So strictly, but much more to pity inclined: 
No sooner did thy dear and only Son 
Perceive thee purposed not to doom frail man 
So strictly, but much more to pity incline, 
He, to appease thy wrath, and end the strife 
Of mercy and justice in thy face discerned, 
Regardless of the bliss wherein he sat 
Second to thee, offered himself to die 
For man's offence. O unexampled love, 



74 PABADISE liOST. 

Love nowhere to be found less than Divine ' 
Hail, Son of God, Saviour of men ! thy name 
Shall be the copious matter of my song 
Henceforth, and never shall my heart thy praise 
Forget, nor from thy Father's praise disjoin." 

Thus they in Heaven, above the starry sphere, 
Their happy hours in joy and hymning spent. 
Meanwhile upon the firm opacous globe 
Of this round world, whose first convex divides 
The h^minou^ inferior orbs inclosed 
From Chaos, and the inroad of Darkness old, 
Satan alighted walks : a globe far off 
It seemed, now seems a boundless continent, 
Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of night 
Starless exposed, and ever-threatening storms 
Of Chaos blustering round, inclement sky ; 
Save on that side which from the wall of Heaven, 
Though distant far, some small reflection gains 
Of glimmering air less vexed with tempest loud : 
Here walked the fiend at large in spacious field, 
As when a vulture on Imaus bred, 
Whose snowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds, 
Dislodging from a region scarce of prey 
To gorge the flesh of lambs or yeanling kids 
On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the springs 
Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams ; 
But in his way lights on the barren plains 
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive 
With sails and wind their cany wagons light ; 
So on this windy sea of land, the fiend 
Walked up and down alone, bent on his prey ; 
Alone, for other creature in this place 
Living or lifeless to be found was none ; 
None yet, but store hereafter from the earth 
Up hither like aerial vapours flew 
Of all things transitory and vain, when sin 
With vanity had filled the works of men ; 
Both all things vain, and all who in vain things 
Built their fond hopes of glory or lasting fame, 
Or happiness in this or the other life : 



PABADISB LOST. 76 

All who have their reward on earth, the fruits 

Of painful superstition and blind zeal, 

Nought seeking but the praise of men, here find 

Fit retribution, empty as their deeds ; 

All th' unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, 

Abortive, monstrous, or unkindly mixed. 

Dissolved on earth, fleet hither, and in vain, 

Till final dissolution, wander here. 

Not in the neighbouring moon, as some have dreamed 

Those argent fields more likely habitants, 

Translated saints, or middle spirits, hold. 

Betwixt the angelical and human kind. 

Hither of ill-joined sons and daughters born 

First from the ancient world those giants came 

With many a vain exploit, though then renowned. 

The builders next of Babel on the plain 

Of Sennaar, and still with vain design 

New Babels, had they wherewithal, would build • 

Others came single ; he who to be deemed 

A god, leaped fondly into ^tna flames, 

Empedocles ; and he who to enjoy 

Plato's Elysium, leaped into the sea, 

Cleombrotus ; and many more too long, 

Embryos and idiots, eremites and friars, 

"White, black, and gray, with all their trumpery. 

Here pilgrims roam, that strayed so far to see 

In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heaven ; 

And they who to be sure of Paradise 

Dying put on the weeds of Dominic, 

Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised ; 

They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixed, 

And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs 

The trepidation talked, and that first moved ; 

And now Saint Peter at Heaven's wicket seems 

To wait them with his keys, and now at foot 

Of Heaven's ascent they lift their feet, when lo 1 

A violent cross-wind from either coast 

Blows them transverse ten thousand leagues awry 

Into the devious air ; then might ye see 

Cowls, hoods, and habits with their wearers tost 



76 PABADI8E LOST. 

And fluttered into rags ; then relics, beads, 

Indulgences, dispenses, pardons, bulls, 

The sport of winds : all these upwhirled aloft, 

Fly o'er the backside of the world far off 

Into a limbo large and broad, since called 

The Paradise of Fools, to few unknown 

Long after, now unpeopled, and untrod. 

All this dark globe the fiend found as he passed. 

And long he wandered, till at last a gleam 

Of dawning light turned thitherward in haste 

His travelled steps ; far distant he descries, 

Ascending by degrees magnificent 

Up to the wall of Heaven, a structure high ; 

At top whereof, but far more rich, appeared 

The work as of a kingly palace gate, 

With frontispiece of diamond and gold 

Embellished ; thick with sparkling orient gems 

The portal shone, inimitable on earth 

By model, or by shading pencil drawn. 

The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw 

Angels ascending and descending, bands 

Of guardians bright, when he from Esau fled 

To Padan-Aram, in the field of Luz, 

Dreaming by night under the open sky. 

And waking cried, ' This is the gate of Heaven.* 

Each stair mysteriously was meant, nor stood 

There always, but drawn up to Heaven soraetimei 

Viewless ; and underneath a bright sea flowed 

Of jasper, or of liquid pearl, whereon 

Who after came from earth, sailing arrived, 

Wafted by angels, or flew o'er the lake 

Rapt in a chariot drawn by fiery steeds. 

The stairs were then let down, whether to dare 

The fiend by easy ascent, or aggravate 

His sad exclusion from the doors of bliss : 

Direct against which opened from beneath, 

Just o'er the blissful seat of Paradise, 

A passage down to the eart>i, a passage wide, 

Wider by far than that of after times 

Over Mount Sion, and, though that were large, 



FABADISE LOST. 77 

Over the promised land to God so dear, 

By which, to visit oft those happy tribes, 

On high behests his angels to and fro 

Passed frequent, and his eye with choice regard 

From Paneas, the fount of Jordan's flood, 

To Beersaba, where the Holy Land 

Borders on Egypt and the Arabian shore ; 

So wide the opening seemed, where bounds were set 

To darkness, such as bound the ocean wave. 

Satan from hence, now on the lower stair, 

That scaled by steps of gold to Heaven-gate, 

Looks down with wonder at the sudden view 

Of all this world at once. As when a scout 

Through dark and desert ways with peril gone 

All night, at last by break of cheerful dawn 

Obtains the brow of some high-climbing hill, 

Which to his eye discovers unaware 

The goodly prospect of some foreign land 

First seen, or some renowned metropolis, 

With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned, 

Which now the rising sun glides with his beams : 

Such wonder seized, though after Heaven seen, 

The spirit malign, but much more envy seized. 

At sight of all this world beheld so fair. 

Round he surveys (and well might, where he stood 

So high above the circling canopy 

Of night's extended shade), from eastern point 

Of Libra to the fleecy star that bears 

Andromeda far off Atlantic seas. 

Beyond the horizon ; then from pole to pole 

He views in breadth, and without longer pause 

Down right into the world's first region throws 

His flight precipitant, and winds with ease 

Through the pure marble air his oblique way 

Amongst innumerable stars, that shone 

Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worldg ; 

Or other worlds they seemed, or happy isles, 

Like those Hesperian gardens famed of old, 

Fortunate fields, and groves, and flowery vales ; 

Thrice happy isles, but who dwelt happy there 



78 PiLBADISK LOST. 

He staid not to inquire : above them all 

The golden sun, in splendour likest Heaven, 

Allured his eye : thither his course he bends 

Through the calm firmament (but up or down, 

By centre, or eccentric, hard to tell. 

Or longitude), where the great luminary 

Aloof the vulgar constellations thick. 

That from his lordly eye keep distance due, 

Dispenses light from far ; they as they move 

Their starry dance in numbers that compute 

Days, months, and years, towards his all-cheering lamp 

Turn swift their various motions, or are turned 

By his magnetic beam, that gently warms 

The universe, and to each inward part 

With gentle penetration, though unseen, 

Shoots invisible virtue eA-^en to the deep ; 

So wondrously was set his station bright. 

There lands the fiend, a spot like which, perhaps, 

Astronomer in the sun's lucent orb 

Through his glazed optic tube yet never saw. 

The place he found beyond expression bright, 

Compared with aught on earth, metal or stone ; 

Not all parts like, but all alike informed 

With radiant light, as glowing iron with fire ; 

If metal, part seemed gold, part silver clear ; 

If stone, carbuncle most, or chrysolite. 

Ruby or topaz, to the twelve that shone 

In Aaron's breastplate, and a stone besides 

Imagined rather oft than elsewhere seen. 

That stone, or like to that, which here below 

Philosophers in vain so long have sought; 

In vain, though by their powerful art they bind 

Volatile Hermes, and call up unbound 

In various shapes old Proteus from the sea, 

Drained through a limbec to his native form. 

What wonder then if fields and regions here 

Breathe forth elixir pure, and rivers run 

Portable gold, when with one virtuous touch 

The arch-chemic sun, so far from us remote, 

Produces, with terrestrial humour mixed, 



PAEADISE LOST. 79 

Here in the dark so many precious things 

Of colour glorious and effect so rare ? 

Here matter new to gaze the devil met 

Undazzled ; far and wide his eye commands; 

For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade, 

But all sunshine, as when his beams at noon 

Culminate from the equator, as they now 

Shot upward still direct, whence no way round 

Shadow from body opaque can fall ; and the air, 

Nowhere sc clear, sharpened his visual ray 

To objects distant far, whereby he soon 

Saw within ken a glorious angel stand, 

Tho same whom John saw also in the sun : 

His back was turned, but not his brightness hid ; 

Of beaming sunny rays a golden tiar 

Circled his head, nor less his locks behind 

Illustrious on his shoulders, fledge with wings, 

Lay waving round ; on some great charge employed 

He seemed, or fixed in cogitation deep. 

Glad was the spirit impure, as now in hope 

To find who might direct his wandering flight 

To Paradise, the happy seat of man, 

His journey's end, and our beginning woe. 

But first he casts to change his proper shape, 

Which else might work him danger or delay : 

And now a stripling cherub he appears, 

Not of the prime, yet such as in his face 

Youth smiled celestial, and to every limb 

Suitable grace diffused, so well he feigned : 

Under a coronet his flowing hair 

In curls on either cheek played ; wing he wore 

Of many a coloured plume, sprinkled with gold; 

His habit fit for speed succinct, and held 

Before his decent steps a silver wand. 

He drew not nigh unheard ; the angel bright, 

Ere he drew high, his radiant visage turned. 

Admonished by his ear, and straight was known 

The archangel Uriel, one of the seven 

"Who in God's presence, nearest to his throne, 

Stand ready at command, and are his eyes 



80 PARADISE LOST. 

That run through all the Heavens, or down to the earth 
Bear his swift errands, over moist and dry, 
O'er sea and land : him Satan thus accosts : 

" Uriel, for thou of those seven spirits that stau^ 
In sight of God's high throne, gloriously bright, 
The first art wont his great authentic will 
Interpreter through highest Heaven to bring, 
Where all his sons thy embassy attend ; 
And here art likeliest by supreme decree 
Like honour to obtain, and, as his eye 
To visit oft this new creation round ; 
xJnspeakable desire to see, and know 
All these his wondrous works, but chiefly man, 
His chief delight and favour, him for whom 
All these his works so wondrous he ordained, 
Hath brought me from the quires of cherubim 
Alone thus wandering. Brightest seraph, tell 
In which of all these shining orbs hath man 
His fixed seat, or fixed seat hath none, 
But all these shining orbs his choice to dwell; 
That I may find him, and with secret gaze 
Or open admiration him behold. 
On whom the great Creator hath bestowed 
Worlds, and on whom hath all these graces poured ; 
That both in him and all things, as is meet. 
The universal Maker we may praise. 
Who justly hath driven out his rebel foes 
To deepest hell, and to repair that loss 
Created this new happy race of men 
To serve him better : wise are all his ways." 

So spake the false dissembler unperceived ; 
For neither man nor angel can discern 
Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks 
Invisible, except to God alone. 

By his permissive will, through Heaven and earth : 
And oft, though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps 
At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity 
Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill 
Where no ill seems : which now for once beguiled 
Uriel, though regent of the sun, and held 



PARADISE LOST. 81 

The sharpest-sighted spirit of all in TTeaven ; 

Who to the fraudulent impostor foul 

In his uprightness answer thus returned : 

" Fair angel, thy desire, which tends to know 
The works of God, thereby to glorify 
The great Work-Master, leads to no excess 
That reaches blame, but rather merits praise 
The more it seems excess, that led thee hither 
From thy empyreal mansion thus alone, 
To witness Avith thine eyes what some perhaps, 
Contented with report, hear only in Heaven : 
For wonderful indeed are all his works, 
Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all 
Had in remembrance always with delight ; 
But what created mind can comprehend 
Their number, or the wisdom infinite 
That brought them forth, but hid their causes deep? 
I saw when at his word the formless mass, 
This world's material mould, came to a heap • 
Confusion heard his voice, and wild uproar 
Stood ruled, stood vast infinitude confined ; 
Till at his second bidding darkness fled, 
Light shone, and order from disorder sprung : 
Swift to their several quarters hasted then 
The cumbrous elements, earth, flood, air, fire ; 
And this ethereal quintessence of Heaven 
Flew upward, spirited with various forms, 
That rolled orbicular, and turned to stars 
Numberless, as thou seest, and how they move; 
Each had his place appointed, each his course ; 
The rest in circuit walls this universe. 
Look downward on that globe, whose hither side 
With light from hence, though but reflected, shines ; 
That place is earth, the seat of man ; that light 
His duy, which else, as the other hemisjthere, 
Night would invade ; but there the neighbouring moon 
(So call that ojiposite fair star) her aid 
Timely interposes, and her monthly round 
Still ending, still renewing, through mid Heaven, 
With borrowed light her countenance triform 
6 



82 PAEADISK LOST. 

Hence fills and empties to enlighten the earth, 
And in her pale dominion checks the night. 
That spot to which I point is Paradise, 
Adam's abode, those lofty shades his bower. 
Thy way thou canst not miss, me mine requires." 
Thus said, he turned ; and Satan, bowing low, 
As to superior spirits is wont in Heaven, 
Where honour due and reverence none neglects. 
Took leave, and tOAvard the coast of earth beneath, 
Down from the ecliptic, sped with hoped success, 
Throws his steep flight in many an airy wheel, 
Nor stayed, till on Niphates' top he light». 



PASADISB LOST. 



83 



BOOK rv. 

THE ABGXXMENT. 

Satan, now in prospect of Eden, and nigh the place where le must new 
attempt the bold enterprise which he undertook alone against God and 
man, falls into many doubts with himself, and many passions, fear, 
envy, and despair ; but at length confirms himself in evil, journeys on 
to Paradise, whose outward prospects and situation is described, over- 
leaps the bounds, sits in the shape of a cormorant on the tree of life, aa 
the highest iu the garden, to look about him. The garden described ; 
Satau's first sight of Adam and Eve ; his wonder at their excellent form and 
happy state, but with resolution to work their fall ; overhears their dis- 
course, thence gathers that the tree of knowledge was forbidden them to 
eat of, under penalty of death ; and thereon intends to found his tempta- 
tion, by seducing them to transgress ; then teaves them awhile, to know 
further of their state by some other means. Meanwhile, Uriel, descend- 
ing on a sunbeam, warns Gabriel, who had in charge the gate of Para- 
dise, that some evil spirit had escaped the deep, and passed at noon by 
his sphere in the shape of a good angel down to Paradise, discovered 
after by his furious gestures in the mount. Gabriel promises to find him 
ere morning. Night coming on, Adam and Eve discourse of going to 
their rest: their bower described; their evening worship. Gabriel 
drawing forth his bands of night-watch to walk the rounds of Paradise, 
appoints two ,<»trong angels to Adam's bower, lest the evil spirit should 
be there doing some harm to Adam or Eve sleeping ; there they find 
him at the ear of Eve, tempting her in a dream, and bring him, though 
unwilling, to Gabriel ; by whom questioned, he scornfully answers, pre- 
pares resistance, but, hindered by a sign from Heaven, flies out of Par- 
adise. 

Oh for that warning voice, which he who saw 
The Apocalypse, heard cry in Heaven aloud, 
Then when the dragon, put to second rout, 
Came furious do^vn to be revenged on men, 
" Woe to the inhabitants on earth ! " that now, 
While time was, our first parents had been warned 
The coming of their secret foe, and 'scaped, 
Haply so 'scaped his mortal snare : for now 
Satan, now first inflamed with rage, came down, 



84 PAEADIBE LOST. 

The tempter ere the accuser of mankind, 

To wreak on innocent frail man his loss 

Of that first battle, and his flight to Hell : 

Yet not rejoicing in his speed, though bold 

Far off and fearless, nor with cause to boast, 

Begins his dire attemj^t ; which, nigh the birth, 

Now rolling boils in his tumultuous breast, 

And like a devilish engine back recoils 

Ui)on himself ; horror and doubt distract 

His troubled thoughts, and from the bottom stir 

The Hell within him ; for within him Hell 

He brings, and round about him, nor from Hell 

One step no more than from himself can fly 

By change of place ; now conscience wakes despair 

That slumbered, wakes the bitter memory 

Of what he was, what is, and what must be 

Worse ; of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue. 

Sometimes towards Eden, which now in his view 

Lay pleasant, his grieved look he fixes sad ; 

Sometimes towards Heaven, and the full blazing sun. 

Which now sat high in his meridian tower : 

Then much revolving, thus in sighs began : 

" O thou, that, with surpassing glory crowned, 
Look'st from thy sole dominion, like the god 
Of this new world ; at whose sight all the stars 
Hide their diminished heads ; to thee I call, 
But with no friendly voice, and add thy name, 

sun ! to tell thee how I hate thy beams, 
That bring to my remembrance from what state 

1 fell, how glorious once above thy sphere ; 
Till pride and worse ambition threw me down, 
Warring in Heaven against Heaven's matchless King 
Ah, wherefore ? He deserved no such return 
From me, whom he created what I was 

In that bright eminence, and with his good 
Upbraided none; nor was his service hard. 
What could be less than to afford him praise. 
The easiest recompense, and pay him thanks ? 
How due ! yet all his good proved ill in me. 
An i wrought but malice ; lifted up so high 



PAEADISK LOST. 85 

I sdeined subjection, and thought one step higher 
Would set me highest, and in a moment quit 
The debt immense of endless gratitude, 
So burdensome still paying, still to owe, 
Forgetful what from him I still received ; 
And understood not that a grateful mind 
By owing owes not, but still pays, at once 
Iiidebted and discharged ; what burden then ? 
Oh, had his powerful destiny ordained 
Me some inferior angel, I had stood 
Then happy ; no unbounded hope had raised 
Ambition. Yet why not? some other power 
As gi'eat might have aspired, and me, though mean. 
Drawn to his part ; but other powers as great 
Fell not, but stand unshaken, from within 
Or from without, to all temptations armed. 
Hadst thou the same free will and power to stand ? 
Thou hadst : whom hast thou then or what to accuse, 
But Heaven's free love dealt equally to all ? 
Be then his love accursed, since love or hate, 
To me alike, it deals eternal woe. 
Nay, cursed be thou ; since against his thy will 
Chose freely what it now so justly rues. 
Me miserable ! which way shall I fly- 
Infinite wrath and infinite despair? 
Which way I fly is Ilell ; myself am Hell; 
And in the lowest deep a lower deep 
Still threatening to devour me opens wide, 
To which the Hell I nuffer seems a Heaven. 
Oh, then at last relent : is there no place 
Left for repentance, none for pardon left ? 
None left but by submission ; and that word 
Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame 
Among the spirits beneath, whom I seduced 
With other promises and other vaunts 
Than to submit, boasting I could subdue 
The Omnij)otent. Ay me ! they little know 
How dearly I abide that boast so vain. 
Tinder what torments inwardly I groan. 
While they adore me on the throne of Hell. 



86 PABADIBK LOST. 

With diadem and sceptre high advanced. 

The lower still I fall, only supreme 

In misery ; such joy ambition finds. 

But say I could repent, and could obtain 

By act of grace my former state ; how soon 

Would height recall high thoughts, how soon unsay 

What feigned submission swore ! ease would recant 

Vows made in pain, as violent and void. 

For never can true reconcilement grow 

Wliere wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep 

Which would but lead me to a worse relapse 

And heavier fall : so should I purchase dear 

Short intermission, bought with double smart. 

This knows my punisher ; therefore as far 

From granting he, as I from begging peace : 

All hope excluded thus, behold instead 

Of us outcast, exiled, his new delight. 

Mankind created, and for him this world. 

So farewell hope, and with hope, farewell fear, 

Farewell remorse: all good to me is lost; 

Evil, be thou my good ; by thee at least 

Divided empire with Heaven's King I hold. 

By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign ; 

As man ere long and this new world shall know." 

Thus while he spake, each passion dimmed his face, 
Thrice changed with pale ire, envy and despair; 
Which marred his borrowed visage, and betrayed 
Him counterfeit, if any eye beheld. 
For heavenly minds from such distempers foul 
Are ever clear. Whereof he soon aware, 
Each perturbation smoothed with outward calm, 
Artificer of fraud ; and was the first 
That practised falsehood under saintly show, 
j^^eep malice to conceal, couched with revenge ; 
Yet not enough had practised to deceive 
Uriel once warned; whose eye pursued him down 
The way he went, and on the Assyrian mount 
Saw him disfigured, more than could befall 
Spirit of happy sort : his gestures fierce 
He marked and mad demeanour, then alone, 



PABADI8K LOST. 87 

As he su]>po8ed, all unobserved, unseen. 

So on he fares, and to the border comes 

Of Eden, where delicious Paradise, 

Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green, 

As with a rural mound, the champaign head 

Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides 

With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild, 

Access denied ; and overhead up grew 

Insuperable height of loftiest shade. 

Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, 

A sylvan scene, and as the ranks ascend 

Shade above shade, a woody theatre 

Of stateliest view. Yet higher than their tops 

The verdurous wall of Paradise up-sprung : 

Which to our general sire gave prospect large 

Into his nether empire neighbouring round. 

And higher than that wall a circling row 

Of goodliest trees loaden with fairest fruit, 

Blossoms and fruits at once, of golden hue, 

Appeared, with gay enamelled colours mixed : 

On which the sun more glad impressed his beams 

Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow, 

When God hath showered the earth ; so lovely seemed 

That landscape ; and of pure, now purer air 

Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires 

Vernal delight and joy, able to drive 

All sadness but despair : now gentle gales, 

Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense 

Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 

Those balmy spoils. As when to them who sail 

Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past 

Mozambic, off at sea north-east winds blow 

Sabean odours from the spicy shore 

Of Araby the Blest ; with such delay 

Well pleased they slack their course, and many a league 

Cheered with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles : 

So entertained those odorous sweets the fiend 

Who came their bane, though with them better pleased 

Than Asmodeus with the fishy fume. 

That drove him, though enamoured, from the spouse 



88 PARADI8B LOST. 

Of Tobit's son, and with a vengeance sent 
"From Media post to Egypt, there fast bound. 
Now to the ascent of that steep savage hill 
Satan had journeyed on, pensive and slow ; 
But further way found none, so thick entwined. 
As one continued brake, the undergrowth 
Of shrubs and tangling bushes had perplexed 
All path of man or beast that passed that way : 
One gate there only was, and that looked east 
On the, other side : which, when the arch-felon saw 
Due entrance he disdained, and in contempt, 
At one slight bound high overleaped aU bound 
Of hill or highest wall, and sheer within 
Lights on his feet. As when a prowling wolf, 
Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey, 
Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve 
In hurdled cotes amid the field secure. 
Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold : 
Or as a thief bent to unhoard the cash 
Of some rich burgher, whose substantial door, 
Cross-barred and bolted fast, fear no assault, 
In at the window climbs, or o'er the tiles : 
So clomb this first grand thief into God's fold; 
So since into his church lewd hirelings climb. 
Thence uj) he flew, and on the tree of life. 
The middle tree and highest there that grew, 
Sat like a cormorant : yet not true life 
Thereby regained, but sat devising death 
To them who lived; nor on the virtue thought 
Of that life-giving plant, but only used 
For prospect, what, well used, had been the pledge 
Of immortality. So little knows 
Any, but God alone, to value right 
The good before him, but perverts best things 
To worst abuse, or to their meanest use. 
Beneath him with new wonder now he views 
To all delight of human sense exposed 
In narrow room Nature's whole wealth, yea, more, 
A Heaven on earth : for blissful Paradise 
Of God the garden was, by him in the east 



PAEADISK LOST. 89 

Uf Eden planted ; Eden stretched her line 

From Auran eastward to the royal towers 

Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings, 

Or where the sons of Eden long before 

Dwelt in Telassar : in this pleasant soil 

His far more pleasant garden God ordained ; 

Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow 

All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste; 

And all amid them stood the tree of life, 

High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit 

Of vegetable gold ; and next to life, 

Our death, the tree of knowledge, grew fast by, 

Knowledge of good, bought dear by knowing ill. 

Southward through Eden went a river large, 

Nor changed his course, but through the shaggy liill 

Passed underneath engulfed ; for God had thrown 

That mountain as his garden mould high raised 

Upon the rapid current, which through veins 

Of porous earth with kindly thirst up-drawn. 

Rose a fresh fountain, and with many a rill 

Watered the garden ; thence united fell 

Down the steep glade, and met the nether flood. 

Which from his darksome passage now appears. 

And now divided into four main streams. 

Runs diverse, wandering many a famous realm 

And country, whereof here needs no account ; 

But rather to tell how, if art could tell. 

How from that sapphire fount the crisped brooks, 

Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold. 

With mazy error under pendent shades 

Ran nectar, visiting each plant, and fed 

Flowers worthy of Paradise, wliich not nice art 

In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon 

Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain. 

Both where the morning sun first warmly smote 

The open field, and where the unpierced shade 

Imbrowned the noontide bowers: thus was this place 

A happy rural seat of various view ; 

Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and palm, 

Others whose fruit burnished with golden rind, 



^ PARADISE LOST. 

Hung amiable (Hesperian fables true, 

If true, here only), and of delicious taste. 

Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks 

Grazing the tender herb, were interposed, 

Or palmy hillock ; or the flowery lap 

Of some irriguous valley spread her store, 

F'lowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose : 

Another side, umbrageous grots and caves 

Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine 

Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps 

Luxuriant ; meanwhile murmuring waters fall 

Down the slope hills, dispersed, or in a lake. 

That to the fringed bank with myrtle crowned 

Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams. 

The birds their quire apply ; airs, vernal airs, 

Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune 

The trembling leaves, while universal Pan, 

Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance, 

Led on the eternal Spring. Not that fair field 

Of Enna, where Proserpine gathering flowers, 

Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis 

"Was gathered, which cost Ceres all that pain 

Te seek her through the world ; nor that sweet grove 

Of Daphne by Orontes, and the inspired 

Castalian spring, might with the Paradise 

Of Eden strive ; nor that Nyseian isle 

Girt with the river Triton, where old Cham, 

Whom Gentiles Ammon call, and Lybian Jove, 

Hid Amalthea and her florid son, 

Young Bacchus, from his stepdame Rhea's eye ; 

Nor where Abassin kings their issue guard. 

Mount Amara, though this by some supposed 

True Paradise, under the Ethiop line, 

By Nilus' head, enclosed with shining rock, 

A whole day's journey high, but wide remote 

From this Assyrian garden, where the fiend 

Saw undelighted all delight, all kind 

Of living creatures, new to sight, and strange. 

Two of far nobler shade, erect and tall. 

Godlike erect, with native honour clad, 



PARADISE LOST. 91 

In naked majesty, seemed lords of all, 

And worthy seemed ; for in their looks divine 

The image of their glorious Maker shone ; 

Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure 

(Severe, but in true filial freedom placed), 

Whence true authority in men ; though both 

Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed ; 

For contemplation he and valour formed ; 

For softness she, and sweet attractive grace ; 

He for God only, she for God in him : 

His fair large front, and eye sublime, declared 

Absolute rule ; and hyacinthine locks 

Round from his parted forelock manly hung 

Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad : 

She, as a veil, down to the slender waist 

Her unadorned golden tresses wore 

Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved. 

As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied 

Subjection, but inquired with gently sway, 

And by her yielded, by him best received. 

Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, 

And sweet, reluctant, amorous delay. 

Nor those mysterious parts were then concealed ; 

Then was not guilty shame : dishonest shame 

Of nature's works, honour dishonourable. 

Sin-bred, how have ye troubled all mankind 

"With shows instead, mere shows of seeming pure. 

And banished from man's life his haj^piest life, 

Simplicity and spotless innocence ! 

So passed they naked on, nor shunned 

The sight of God or angel, for they thought no ill : 

So hand in hand they passed, the loveliest pair 

That ever since in love's embraces met ; 

Adam, the goodliest man of men since born, 

His sons ; the fairest of her daughters Eve. 

Under a tuft of shade that on a green 

Stood whispering soft, by a fresh fountain side 

They sat them down ; and, after no more toil 

Of their sweet gardening labour than sufficed 

To recommend cool zephyr, and made ease 



92 PARADISE LOST. 

More easy, wholesome thirst and appetite 
More grateful, to their supper fruits they fell ; 
Nec'larine fruits, which the com]>liant houghs 
Yielded them ; sidelong as they sat recline 
On the soft downy bank damasked with flowers: 
The savory pulp they chew, and in the rind 
Still as they thirsted, scoop the brimming stream : 
Nor gentle purpose, nor endearing smiles 
Wanted, nor youthful dalliance as beseems 
Fair couple, linked in happy nuptial league, 
Alone as they. About them frisking played 
All beasts of the earth, since wild, and of all chase 
In wood or wilderness, forest or den ; 
Sporting the lion ramped, and in his paw 
Dandled the kid ; bears, tigers, ounces, pards. 
Gambolled before them ; the unwieldy elephant, 
To make them mirth, used all his might, and wreathed 
His lithe proboscis ; close the serpent sly 
Insinuating, wove with Gordian twine 
His braided train, and of his fatal guile 
Gave proof unheeded ; others on the grass 
Couched, and now filled with pasture gazing sat, 
Or bedward ruminating ; for the sun. 
Declined, was hastening now with prone career 
To the ocean isles, and in the ascending scale 
Of Heaven, the stars that usher evening nise : 
When Satan, still in gaze, as first he stood. 
Scarce thus at length failed speech recoAered sad : 
" O Hell ! what do mine eyes with gi-ief behold I 
Into our room of bliss thus high advanced 
Creatures of other mould, earth-born, perhaps, 
Not spirits, yet to heavenly spirits bright 
Little inferior ; whom my thoughts pursue 
With wonder, and could love, so lively shines 
In them divine resemblance, and such grace 
The hand that formed them on their shape hath poi 
Ah ! gentle pair, ye little think how nigh 
Your change approaches, when all these delights 
Will vanish, and deliver ye to woe. 
More woe, the more your taste is now of joy ; 



PAEAD18K LOST. 98 

Happy, but for so happy ill secured 

Long to continue, and this high seat, your heaven, 

111 fenced for Heaven to keep out such a foe 

As now is entered ; yet no purposed foe 

To you, whom I could pity thus forlorn, 

Though I unpitied : league with you I seek, 

And mutual amity so straight, so close. 

That I with you must dwell, or you with me 

Henceforth : my dwelling haply may not please, 

Like this fair Paradise, your sense ; yet such 

Accept your Maker's work ; he gave it me, 

Which I as freely give : Hell shall unfold 

To entertain you two, her widest gates. 

And send forth all her kings ; there will be room 

Not like these narrow limits, to receive 

Your numerous offspring ; if no better place, 

Thank him who puts me loth to this revenge 

On you who wrong me not for him who wronged. 

And should I at your harmless innocence 

Melt, as I do, yet public reason just, 

Honour and empire, vrith revenge enlarged, 

By conquering this new world, compels me now 

To do what else, though damned, I should abhor." 

So spake the fiend, and with necessity, 
The tyrant's plea, excused his devilish deeds. 
Then from his lofty stand on that high tree 
Down he alights among the sportful herd 
Of those four-footed kinds, himself now one, 
Now other, as their shape served best his end 
Nearer to view his prey, and unespied 
To mark what of their state he more might learn 
By word or action marked : about them round 
A lion now he stalks with fiery glare ; 
Then as a tiger, who by chance hath spied 
In some purlieu two gentle fawns at i)lay. 
Straight couches close, then rising, changes oft 
His couchant watch, as one who chose his ground, 
Whence rushing he might surest seize them both, 
Griped in each paw : when Adam, first of men, 
To first of women. Eve, thus moving speech, 



94 PAEADISB LOST. 

Turned him, all ear to hear new utterance flow : 
" Sole partner, and sole part of all these joys, 

Dearer thyself than all ; needs must the Power 

That made us, and for us this ample world, 

Be infinitely good, and of his good 

As liberal, and free as infinite ; 

That raised us from the dust, and placed us here 

In all this happiness, who at his hand 

Have nothing merited, nor can perform 

Aught whereof he hath need, he who requires 

From us no other service than to keep 

This one, this easy charge, ©f all the trees 

In Paradise that bear delicious fruit 

So various, not to taste that only tree 

Of knowledge, planted by the tree of life ; 

So near grows death to life, what'er death is, 

Some dreadful thing, no doubt ; for well thou knowest 

God hath pronounced it death to taste that tree, 

Tlie only sign of our obedience left 

Among so many signs of power and rule 

Conferr'd upon us, and dominion given 

Over all other creatures that possess 

Earth, air, and sea. Then let us not think hard 

One easy prohibition, who enjoy 

Free leave so large to all things else, and choice 

Unlimited of manifold delights : 

But let us ever praise him, and extol 

His bounty, following our delightful task. 

To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers, 

Which were it toilsome, yet with thee were sweet." 
To whom thus Eve replied : " O thou, for whom 

And from whom I was formed, flesh of thy flesh. 

And without whom am to no end, my guide 

And head, what thou hast said is just and right. 

For we to him indeed all praises owe, 

And daily thanks ; I chiefly, who enjoy 

So far the happier lot, enjoying the 

Pre-eminent by so much odds, while thou 

Like consort to thyself canst no where find. 

That day I oft remember, when from sleep 



FABADISE LOST. 95 

I first awaked, and found myself reposed 

Under a shade on flowers, much wondering where 

And what I was, whence thither brought, and how. 

Not distant far from thence a murmuring sound 

Of waters issued from a cave, and spread 

Into a liquid plain, then stood unmoved 

Pure as the expanse of Heaven ; I thither went 

With unexperienced thouglit, and laid me down 

On the gi'een bank, to look into the clear 

Smooth lake, that to me seemed another sky. 

As I bent down to look, just opposite 

A shape within the watery gleam appeared, 

Bending to look on me ; I started back, 

It started back ; but pleased I soon returned. 

Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks 

Of sympathy and love ; there I had fixed 

Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire, 

Had not a voice thus warned me : * What thou seest, 

What there thou seest, fair creature, is thyself ; 

With thee it came and goes ; but follow me, 

And I will bring thee where no shadow stays 

Thy coming, and thy soft embraces, he 

Whose image thou art ; him thou shalt enjoy 

Inseparably thine, to him shalt bear 

Multitudes like thyself, and thence be called 

Mother of human race.' What could I do, 

But follow straight, invisibly thus led? 

Till 1 espie3 thee, fair indeed, and tall. 

Under a plantain ; yet methought less fair, 

Less winning soft, less amiably mild. 

Than that smooth watery image ; back I turned ; 

Thou following criedst aloud, ' Return, fair Eve, 

Whom fliest thou ? whom thou fliest, of him thou art. 

His flesh, his bone ; to give thee being I lent 

Out of my side to thee, nearest my heart, 

Substantial life, to have thee by my side 

Henceforth an individual solace dear ; 

Part of my soul, I seek thee, and thee claim 

My other half.' With that thy gentle hand 

Seized mine ; I yielded, and from that time see 



96 PABADISK LOST. 

How beauty is excelle(J by manly grace, 
And wisdom, which alone is truly fair." 

So spake our general mother, and with eye* 
Of conjugal attraction un reproved, 
And meek surrender, half-embracing leaned 
On our first father ; half her swelling breast 
Naked met his under the flowing gold 
Of her loose tresses hid : he in delight 
Both of her beauty aud submissive charms, 
Smiled with superior love, as Jupiter 
On Juno smiles, when he impregns the clouds 
That shed May flowers ; and pressed her matron Up 
With kisses pure : aside the devil turned 
For envy, yet with jealous leer malign 
Eyed them askance, and to himself thus 'plained : 

" Sight hateful, sight tormenting . thus these two^ 
Imparadised in one another's ai*ms. 
The happier Eden, shall enjoy their fill 
Of bliss on bliss ; while I to llell am thrust, 
Where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire, 
Among our other torments not the least. 
Still unfulfilled with pain of longing pines. 
Yet let me not forget what I have gained 
From their own mouths ; all is not theirs, it seewi; 
One fatal tree there stands, of knowledge called, 
Forbidden them to taste : knowledge forbiden ? 
Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord 
Envy them that ? Can it be sin to know ? 
Can it be death ? And do they only stand 
By ignorance ? Is that their happy state. 
The proof of their obedience and their faith ? 
O, fair foundation laid whereon to build 
Their ruin ! Hence I will excite their minds 
With more desire to know, and to reject 
Envious commands, invented with design 
To keep them low, whom knowledge might exalt 
Equal with gods : aspiring to be such. 
They tast and die : what likelier can ensue ? 
But first with narrow search I must walk round 
This garden, and no corner leave unspied ; 



PARABISB LOST. 97 

A chance but chance may lead where I may meet 

Some wandering spirit of Heaven by fountain side, 

Or in thick shade retired, from him to draw 

What further would be learned. Live while ye may 

Yet happy pair ; enjoy, till I return, 

Short pleasures, for long woes are to succeed.'* 

So saying, his proud step he scornful turned, 
J>ut with sly circumspection, and began 
Through wood, through waste, o'er hill, o'er dale, his roam. 
Meanwhile in utmost longitude, where Heaven 
With earth and ocean meets, the setting sun 
Slowly descended, and with right aspect 
Against the eastern gate of Paradise 
Levelled his evening rays : it was a rock 
Of alabaster, piled up to the clouds, 
Conspicuous far, winding with one ascent 
Accessible from earth, one entrance high; 
The rest was craggy cliff, that overhung 
Still as it rose, impossible to climb. 
Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat, 
Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night ; 
About him exercised heroic games 
The unarmed youth of Heaven, but, nigh at hand, 
Celestial armoury, shields, helms, and spears. 
Hung high with diamond flaming, and with gold. 
Thither came Uriel, gliding tlirough the even 
On a sunbeam, swift as a shooting star 
In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours fired 
Impress the air, and shows the mariner 
From what point of his compass to beware 
Impetuous winds : he thus began in haste : 

" Gabriel, to thee thy course by lot hath given 
Charge and strict watch, that to this happy place 
No evil thing approach or enter in. 
This day at height of noon came to my sphere 
A spirt, zealous, as he seemed, to know 
More of the Almighty's works, and chiefly man, 
God's latest image : I described his way 
Bent all on speed, and marked his airy gait ; 
Bi»t in the mount that lies from Eden north, 

7 



tfb PARADISE LOST. 

W^here he first lighted, soon discerned his look* 
Alien from Heaven, with passions foul obscured: 
Mine eye pursued him still, but under shade 
Lost sight of him : one of the banished crew, 
I fear, hath ventured from the deep, to raise 
New troubles ; him thy care must be to find." 

To whom the winged warrior thus returned : 
*' Uriel, no wonder if thy perfect sight. 
Amid the sun's bright circle where thou sitt'st, 
See far and wide : in at this gate none pass 
The vigilance here placed, but such as come 
Well known from Heaven ; and since meridian hour 
No creature thence : if spirit of other sort. 
So minded, have o'erleaped these earthy bounds 
On purpose, hard thou knowest it to exclude 
Spiritual substance with corporeal bar. 
But if within the circuit of these walks, 
In whatsoever shape he lurk, of whom 
Thou tell'st, by morrow dawning I shall know." 

So promised he ; and Uriel to his charge 
Returned on that bright beam, whose point now raised 
Bore him slope downward to the sun, now fallen 
Beneath the Azores ; whether the prime orb. 
Incredible how swift, had thither rolled 
Diurnal, or this less volubil earth, 
By shorter flight to the east, had left him there 
Arraying with refl(>cted purple and gold 
The clouds that on his western throne attend. 

Now came still evening on, and twilight gray 
Had in her sober livery all things clad ; 
Silence accompanied ; for beast and bird, 
They to their grassy couch, these to their nests 
Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale ; 
She all night long her amorous descant sung ; 
Silence was pleased : now glo>f ed the firmament 
With living sapphires : Hesperus, that xed 
The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon, 
Kising in clouded majesty, at length. 
Apparent queen, unveiled her j" ^rless light, 
And o'er the dark ^^r silver mantle threw. 



PABADISE LOST, 99 

When Adam thus to Eve : " Fair consort, the hour 
Of night, and all things now retired to rest, 
Mind us of light repose ; since God hath set 
Labour and rest, as day and night, to men 
Successive ; and the timely dew of sleep, 
Now falling with soft slumbrous weight, inclines 
Our eyelids : other creatures all day long 
Rove idle unemployed, and less need rest ; 
Man hath his daily work of body or mind 
Apjiointed, which declares his dignity, 
And the regard of Heaven on all his ways ; 
While other animals inactive range, 
And of theii doings God takes no account. 
To-morrow, ere fresh morning streak the east 
With first approach of light, we must be risen, 
And at our pleasant labour, to reform 
Yon floAvery arbours, yonder alleys green, 
Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown, 
That mock our scant manuring, and require 
More hands than ours to lop their wanton growth : 
Those blossoms also, and those drooping gums. 
That lie bestrown, unsightly and unsmooth. 
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease : 
Meanwhile, as nature wills, night bids us rest." 

To whom thus Eve, with perfect beauty adorned : 
♦' My author and disposer, what thou bidd'st 
Unargued I obey; so God ordains; 
God is thy law, thou mine : to know no more 
Is woman's happiest knowledge and her praise. 
With thee conversing I forget all time ; 
All seasons and their iiange, all please alike. 
Sweet is the breath ox morn, her rising sweet, 
With charm of earliest birds ; ])leasant the sun, 
When first on this delightful land he spreads 
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower, 
Glistering with dew ; fragrant the fertile earth 
After Soft showers ; and sweet the coming on 
Of grateful evening mild ; then silent night 
With this her «oleirva bird, and this fair moon, 
And these th gems of Heaven, her starry train : 

I. Of C 



100 PARADISE LOST. 

But neither breath of morn, when she ascends 

"With charm of earliest birds ; nor rising sun 

On this delightful land ; nor herb, fruit, flower, 

Glistering with dew ; nor fragrance after showei'S ; 

Nor grateful evening mild ; nor silent night 

With this her solemn bird ; nor walk by moon, 

Or glittering starlight, without thee is sweet. 

But wherefore all night long shine these ? For whom 

This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes?" 

To whom our general ancestor replied : 
" Daughter of God and man, accomplished Eve, 
These have their course to finish round the earth, 
By moiTOW evening, and fi-om land to land 
In order, though to nations yet unborn, 
Ministering light prepared, they set and rise; 
Lest total darkness should by night regain 
Her old possession, and extinguish life 
In nature and all things, which these soft fires 
Not only enlighten, but with kindly heat 
Of various influence foment and warm. 
Temper or nourish, or in part shed down 
Their stellar virtue on all kinds that grow 
On earth, made hereby apter to receive 
Perfection from the sun's more potent ray. 
These, then, tliough unbeheld in deep of night, 
Shine not in vain ; nor think, though men were none, 
That Heaven would want spectators, God want praise : 
Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep : 
All these with ceaseless praise his works behold 
Both day and night. How often from the steep 
Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard 
Celestial voices to the midnight air, 
Sole, or responsive each to other's note. 
Singing their great Creator ! Oft in bands 
"While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk, 
With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds 
In full harmonic number joined, their songs 
Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heaven.** 

Thus talking, hand in hand alone they passed 



PABADI8K LOST. 101 

On to their blissful bower ; it was a place 

Chosen by the sovereign Planter, when he framed 

All things to man's delightful use ; the roof 

Of thickest covert was inwoven shade 

Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew 

Of firm and fragrant leaf ; on either side 

Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub, 

Fenced up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flower ; 

Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine, 

Reared high their flourished heads between, and wrought 

Mosaic ; underfoot the voilet. 

Crocus, and hyacinth with rich inlay 

Broidered the ground, more coloured than with atone 

Of costliest emblem : other creature here. 

Beast, bird, insect, or worm, durst enter none : 

Such was their awe of man. In shadier bower, 

More sacred and sequestered, though but feigned, 

Pan or Sylvanus never slept, nor nymph 

'Not faun us haunted. Here in close recess. 

With flowers, garlands, and sweet-smelling herbs, 

Espoused Eve decked first her nuptial bed, 

And heavenly quires the hymensean sung. 

What day the genial angel to our sire 

Brought her in naked beauty more adorned, 

More lovely than Pandora, whom the gods 

Endowed with all their gifts, and oh ! too like 

In sad event, when to the unwiser son 

Of Japhet brought by Hermes, she ensnared 

Mankind with her fair looks, to be avenged 

On him who had stole Jove's authentic fire. 

Thus at their shady lodge arrived, both stood, 
Both turned, and under open sky adored 
The God that made both sky, air, earth, and heaven, 
Which they beheld ; the moon's resplendent globe, 
And starry pole : " Thou also madest the night. 
Maker Omnipotent, and thou the day. 
Which we in our appointed work employed 
Have finished, happy in our mutual help 
And mutual love, the crown of all our bliss, 
Ordained by thee, and this delicious place. 



102 PABADISB LOST. 

For us too large, where thy abundance wants 
Partakers, and uncropt falls to the ground. 
But thou hast promised from us two a race 
To fill the earth, who shall with us extol 
Thy goodness infinite, both when we wake, 
And when we seek, as now, thy gift of sleep." 

This said unanimous, and other rites 
Observing none, but adoration pure. 
Which God likes best, into their inmost bower, 
Handed they went ; and, eased the putting off 
These troublesome disguises which we wear, 
Straight side by side were laid ; nor turned, I weeili 
Adam from his fair spouse, nor Eve the rites 
Mysterious of connubial love refused ; 
Whatever hypocrites austerely talk 
Of purity, and place, and innocence, 
Defaming as impure what God declares 
Pure, and commands to some, leaves free to all. 
Our Maker bids hicrease ; wlio bids abstain 
But our destoyer, foe to God and man ? 
Hail, wedded love ! mysteiious law, true source 
Of human offspring, sole propriety 
In Paradise of all things common else. 
By thee adulterous lust was driven from men 
Among the bestial herds to range ; by thee, 
Founded in reason, loyal, just and pure, 
Relations dear, and all the charities 
Of father, son, and brother first were known. 
Far be it that I should write thee sin or blame, 
Or think thee unbefitting holiest place; 
Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets. 
Whose bed is undefiled and chaste pronounced, 
Present, past, as saints and patriarchs used. 
Here love his golden shafts employs, here light* 
His constant lamp, and waves his purple wings, 
Reigne here and revels ; not in the bought smile 
Of harlots, loveless, joyless, unendeared, 
Casual fruition ; nor in court amours, 
Mixed dance, or wanton mask, midnight ba^ 
Or serenade, which the starved lover sings 



PARADI8B LOST. 103 

To his proud fair, best quitted with disdain. 
These, lulled by nightingales, embracing slept, 
And on their naked limbs the flowery roof 
Showered roses, which the morn repaired. Sleep on, 
Blest pair ; and oh ! yet happiest, if ye seek 
No happier state, and know to know no more. 

Now had night measured with her shadowy cone 
Ralfway up-hill this vast sublunar vault, 
And from their ivory port the cherubim. 
Forth issuing at the accustomed hour, stood armed 
To their night watches in warlike parade. 
When Gabriel to his next in power thus spake : 

" Uzziel, half these draw off, and coast the south 
"With strictest watch; these other wheel the north; 
Our circuit meets full west." As flame they part, 
Half wheeling to the shield, half to the spear. 
From these, two strong and subtle spirits he called, 
That near him stood, and gave them thus in charge : 

" Ithuriel and Zephon, with winged speed 
Search through this garden ; leave unsearched no nook 
But chiefly where those two fair creatures lodge. 
Now laid, perhaps, asleep, secure of harm. 
This evening from the sun's decline arrived 
Who tells of some infernal spirit seen 
Hitherward bent (who could have thought?) escaped 
The bars of Hell, on errand bad no doubt : 
Such where ye find, seize fast, and hither bring." 

So saying, on he led his radiant files, 
Dazzling the moon : these to the bower direct 
In search of whom they sought ; him there they found 
Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve, 
Assaying by his devilish art to reach 
The organs of her fancy, and with them forge 
Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams. 
Or if, inspiring venom, he might taint 
The animal spirits that from pure blood arise 
Like gentle breaths from rivers pure, thence raise 
At least distempered, discontented thoughts, 
Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires. 
Blown up with high conceits engendering pride. 



104 PARADISE LOST. 

Him thus intent, Ithuriel with his spear 
Touched lightly ; for no falsehood can endure 
Touch of celestial temper, but returns 
Of force to its own likeness : up he starts. 
Discovered and surprised. As when a spark 
Lights on a heap of nitrous powder, laid 
Fit for the tun some magazine to store 
Against a rumored war, the smutty grain. 
With sudden blaze diffused, inflames the air : 
So started up in his own shape the fiend. 
Back stepped those two fair angels, half amazed 
So sudden to behold the grisly king ; 
Yet thus, unmoved with fear, accost him soon : 

" Which of those rebel spirits adjudged to Hell 
Comest thou, escaped thy prison ? and, transformed. 
Why satt'st thou like an enemy in wait. 
Here watching at the head of these that sleep ? " 

" Know ye not then," said Satan, filled with scorn, 
" Know ye not me ? Ye knew me once no mate 
For you, there sitting where ye durst not soar : 
Not to know me argues yourselves unknown, 
The lowest of your throng ; or if ye know, 
Why ask ye, and suiDcrfluous begin 
Your message, like to end as much in vain ? " 

To whom thus Zephon, answering scorn with scorn I 
*' Think not, revolted spirit, thy shape the same, 
Or undiminished brightness to be known. 
As when thou stood'st in Heaven, upright and pure ; 
T'hat glory then, when thou no more wast good, 
Departed from thee ; and thou resemblest now 
Thy sin and place of doom obscure and foul. 
But come, for thou, be sure, shalt give account 
To him who sent us, whose charge is to keep 
This place inviolable, and these from harm." 

So spake the cherub ; and his grave rebuke, 
Severe in youthful beauty, added grace 
Invincible : abashed the devil stood. 
And felt how awful goodness is, and saw 
Virtue in her shape how lovely ; saw, and pined 
His loss ; but chiefly to find here observed 



PAEADI8B LOST. 105 

flis lustre visibly impaired ; yet seeraed 
Undaunted. " If I must contend," said he, 
" Best with the best, the sender, not the sent, 
Or all at once ; more glory will be won. 
Or less be lost." " Thy fear," said Zephon bold, 
" Will save us trial what the least can do 
Single against thee wicked, and thence weak." 

The fiend replied not, overcome with rage ; 
But, like a proud steed reined, went haughty on, 
Champing his iron curb : to strive or fly 'P 
He held it vain : awe from above had quelled 
His heart, not else dismayed. Now drew they nigh 
The western point, where those half-rounding guards 
Just met, and, closing, stood in squadron joined, 
Awaiting next command. To whom their chief, 
Gabriel, from the front thus called aloud : 

" O friends ! I hear the tread of nimble feet 
Hasting this way, and now by glimpse discern 
Ithuriel and Zephon through the shade, 
And with them comes a third of regal port, 
But faded splendor wan ; who, by his gait 
And fierce demeanour, seems the prince of Hell, 
Not likely to part hence without contest ; 
Stand firm, for in his look defiance lours." 

He scarce had ended, when these two approached. 
And brief related whom they brought, where found, 
How busied, in what form and posture couched. 

To whom with stern regard thus Gabriel spake : 
" Why hast thou, Satan, broke the bounds prescribed 
To thy transgressions, and disturbed the charge 
Of others, who approve not to transgress 
By thy example, but have power and right 
To question thy bold entrance on this place ; 
Employed, it seems, to violate sleep, and those 
Whose dwelling God hath planted here in bliss?" 

To whom thus Satan with contemptuous brow : 
" Gabriel, thou hadst in Heaven the esteem of wise, 
And such I held tliee ; but this question asked 
Puts me in doubt. Lives there who loves his pain ? 
Who would not, finding way, break loose from Hell, 



106 PAEADISB LOST. 

Though thither doomel ? Thou wouldst thyself, no doubt, 

And boldly venture to whatever place 

Farthest from pain, where thou raightst hope to change 

Torment with ease, and soonest recompense 

Dole with delight, which in this place I sought ; 

To thee no reason, who know'st only good, 

But evil hast not tried ; and wilt object 

Ilis will who bound us ? Let him surer bar 

His iron gates, if he intends our stay 

In that dark durance : thus much what was asked. 

The rest is triae, they found me where they say ; 

But that implies not violence or harm." 

Thus he in scorn. The warlike angel moved, 
Disdainfully half smiling, thus replied : 
" O loss of one in Heaven, to judge of wise, 
Since Satan fell, whom folly overthrew. 
And now returns him from his prison 'scaped, 
Gravely in doubt whether to hold them wise 
Or not, who ask what boldness brought him hither 
Unlicensed from his bounds in Hell j^rescribed; 
So wise he judges it to fly from pain 
However, and to 'scape his punishment. 
So judge thou still, presumptuous, till the wrath, 
Which thou incurr'st by flying, meet thy flight 
Sevenfold, and scourge that wisdom back to Hell, 
Which taught thee yet no better, that no pain 
Can equal anger infinite provoked. 
But wherefore thou alone? Wherefore with thee 
Came not all Hell broke loose? Is pain to them 
Less pain, less to be fled ; or thou than they 
Less hardy to endure ? Courageous chief ! 
The first in flight from pain, hadst tliou alleged 
To thy deserted host this cause of flight. 
Thou surely hadst not come sole fugitive." 

To which the fiend thus answered, frowning stem : 
" Not that I less endure or shrink from pain, 
Insulting angel ; well thou know'st I stood 
Thy fiercest, when in battle to thy aid 
The blasting volleyed thunder made all speed, 
And seconded thy else not dreaded spear. 



PAEADISB LOST. 107 

But still thy words at random, as before, 

Argue thy inexperience what behoves 

From hard assays and ill successes past, 

A faithful leader, not to hazard all 

Through ways of danger by himself untried : 

I, therefore, I alone first undertook 

To wing the desolate abyss, and spy 

This new created world, whereof in Hell 

Fame is not silent, here in hope to find 

Better abode, and my afllicted powers 

To settle here on earth, or in mid air ; 

Tliough for possession put to try once more 

What thou and thy gay legions dare against ; 

Whose easier business were to serve their Lord 

High up in Heaven, with songs to hymn his throne, 

And practised distances to cringe, not fight." 

To whom the warrior angel soon replied : 
" To say and straight unsay, pretending first 
Wise to fly pain, professing next the spy, 
Argues no leader, but a liar traced, 
Satan, and couldst thou faithful add ? O name, 
O sacred name of faithfulness profaned ! 
Faithful to whom ? to thy rebellious crew ? 
Army of fiends, fit body to fit head. 
Was this your discipline and faith engaged, 
Your military obedience, to dissolve 
Allegiance to the acknowledged power supreme ? 
And thou, sly hypocrite, who now wouldst seem 
Patron of liberty, who more than thou 
Once fawned, and crimped, and servilely adored 
Heaven's awful monarch ? wherefore, but in hope 
To dispossess him, and thyself to reign ? 
But mark what I arreed thee now : Avaunt! 
Fly thither whence thou fled'st : if from this hour 
Within these liallowed limits thou appear, 
Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chained. 
And seal thee so, as henceforth not to scorn 
The facile gates of Hell, too slightly barred." 

So threatened he ; but Satan to no threats 
Gave heed, but waxing more in rage replied : 



a08 pabadisk lost. 

" Then when I am thy captive talk of chaina, 
Proud limitary cherub ! But ere then 
Far heavier load thyself expect to feel 
From my prevailing arm, though Heaven's King 
Ride on thy wings, and thou, with thy compeers, 
Used to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels 
In progress through the road of Heaven star-paved.* 

While thus he spake, the angelic squadron bright 
Turned fiery red, sharpening in mooned horns 
Their phalanx, and began to hem him round 
With ported spears, as thick as when a field 
Of Ceres, ripe for harvest, waving bends 
Her bearded grove of ears, which way the wind 
Sways them ; the careful ploughman doubting stands, 
Lest on the threshing floor his hopeful sheaves 
Prove chaff. On the other side, Satan, alarmed. 
Collecting all his might, dilated stood, 
Like Teneriff or Atlas, unremoved : 
His stature reached the sky, and on his crest 
Sat horror plumed ; nor wanted in his grasp 
What seemed both spears and shield. Now dreadful 

deeds 
Might have ensued ; not only Paradise, 
In this commotion, but the starry cope 
Of Heaven, perhaps, or all the elements 
At least had gone to wrack, disturbed and torn 
With violence of this conflict, had not soon 
The Eternal, to prevent such horrid fray. 
Hung forth in Heaven his golden scales, yet seen 
Betwixt Astrea and the Scorpion sign, 
Wherein all things created first he weighed, 
The pendulous round earth with balanced air 
In counterpoise ; now ponders all events. 
Battles and realms : in these he put two weights, 
The sequel each of parting and of fight ; 
The latter quick up flew, and kicked the beam, 
Which Gabriel spying, thus bes})ake the fiend : 

" Satan, I know thy strength, and thou know'st mine, 
Neither our own, but given ; what folly, then. 
To boast what arms can do, since thine no more 



PARADISE LOST. 10& 

Than ITeaven permits, nor mine, though doubled now 

To trample thee as mire ! For proof look uj), 

And read thy lot in yon celestial sign, 

Where thou art weighed, and shown how light, how weak, 

If thou resist. The fiend looked up, and knew 

His mounted scale aloft : nor more ; but fled 

Murmuring, and with him fled the shades of night. 



110 PASADISB LOBT. 



BOOK V. 



THE AB&UMENT. 



Morning approached, Eve relates to Adam her troublesome dream; he 
likegJt not, yet comforts her: they come forth to their day labors: their 
mormng hymn at the door of their bower. God, to render man inexcus- 
able, sends Raphael to admonish him of his obedience, of his free estate, 
of his enemy near at hand, who he is, and why his enemy, and whatever 
else may avail Adam to know. Raphael comes down to Paradise; his 
appearance described ; his coming discerned by Adam afar off, sitting at 
the door of his bower; he goes out to meet him, brings him to his lodge, 
entertains him with the choicest fruits of Paradise got together by Eve; 
their discourse at table: Raphael performs his message, minds Adam 
of his state and of his enemy; relates, at Adam's request, who that 
enemy is, and how he came to be so, beginning from his first revolt in 
Heaven, and the occasion thereof ; how he drew his legions after him 
to the parts of the north, and there incited them to rebel with him, per- 
suading all but only Abdiel, a seraph, who in argument diss'uades and 
opposes him, then forsakes him. 

Now morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime 

Advancing, sowed the earth with orient pearl, 

When Adam waked, so customed ; for his sleep 

Was airy light, from pure digestion bred, 

And temperate vapours bland, which the only sound 

Of leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan. 

Lightly dispersed, and the shrill matin song 

Of birds on every bough ; so much the more 

His wonder was to find un wakened Eve 

With tresses discomposed, and glowing cheek, 

As through unquiet rest : he on his side 

Leaning, half raised, with looks of cordial love 

Hung over her enamoured, and beheld 

Beauty, which, whether waking or asleep. 

Shot forth peculiar graces ; then with voice 

Mild, as when Zephyrus on Fhu-a breathes, 

Her hand soft touching, whispered thus : " Awake, 



PARADISE LOST. 11 J 

My fairest, my espoused, my latest found, 
Heaven's last best gift, my ever-new delight, 
Awake ; the morning shines, and the fresh field 
Calls us ; we lose the prime to mark how spring 
Our tended plants, how blows the citron grove, 
What drops the myrrh, and what the balmy reed. 
How nature paints her colours, how the bee 
Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet." 

Such whispering waked her, but with startled eye 
On Adam, whom embracing, thus she spake : 

" sole in whom my thoughts find all repose, 
My glory, my perfection ! glad I see 
Thy face, and morn returned ; for I this night 
(Such night till this 1 never passed) have dreamed, 
If dreamed, not as I oft am wont, of thee, 
Works of day past, or morrow's next design. 
But of offence and trouble, which my mind 
Knew never till this irksome night : methought 
Close at mine ear one called me forth to walk. 
With gentle voice ; I thought it thine ; it said, 
' Why sleep'st thou. Eve ? Now is the pleasant time. 
The cool, the silent, save where silence yields 
To the night-warbling bird, that now awake 
Tunes sweetest his love-laboured song ; now reigns 
Full orbed the moon, and with more pleasing light 
Shadowy sets off the face of things ; in vain. 
If none regard ; Heaven wakes with all his eyes, 
Whom to behold but thee, nature's desire ? 
In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment 
Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.' 
I rose as at thy call, but found thee not ; 
To find thee I directed then my walk ; 
And on, methought, alone I passed through ways 
That brought mc on a sudden to the tree 
Of interdicted knowledge : fair it seemed, 
Much fairer to my fancy than by day : 
And as I wondering looked, beside it stood 
One shaped and winged like one of those from Heaven 
By us oft seen ; his dewy locks distilled 
Ambrosia j on that tree he also gazed ; 



112 PABADISK LOST. 

And ' O fair plant,' said he, ' with fruit surcharged, 

Deigns none to ease thy load, and taste thy sweet, 

Nor God, nor man ? Is knowledge so despised ? 

Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste? 

Forbid who will, none shall from me withhold 

Longer thy offered good : why else set here ? " 

This said, he paused not, but with venturous arm 

He plucked, he tasted ; me damp horror chilled 

At such bold words vouched with a deed so bold; 

But he thus, overjoyed : " fruit divine, 

Sweet of thyself, but much more sweet thus cropped J 

Forbidden here, it seems, as only fit 

For gods, yet able to make gods of men : 

And why not gods of men, since good, the more 

Communicated, more abundant grows, 

The author not impaired, but honored more? 

Here, happy creature, fair angelic Eve, 

Partake thou also ; happy though thou art, 

Happier thou mayst be, worthier canst not be: 

Taste this, and be henceforth among the gods 

Thyself a goddess, not to earth confined, 

But sometimes in the air, as we ; sometimes 

Ascend to Heaven, by merit thine, and see 

What life the gods live there, and such live thou. 

So saying, he drew nigh, and to me held. 

Even to my mouth of that same fruit held part 

Which he had plucked ; the pleasant savory smell 

So quickened appetite, that I, methought, 

Could not but taste. Forthwith up to the clouds 

With him I flew, and underneath beheld 

The earth outstretched immense, a prospect wide 

And various : wondering at my flight and change 

To this high exaltation, suddenly 

My guide was gone, and I, methought, sunk down, 

And fell a«leep ; but oh, how glad I waked 

To find this but a dream ! " Thus Eve her night 

Related, and thus Adam answered sad : 

" Best image of myself, and dearer half, 
The trouble of thy thoughts this night in sleep 
Affects me equally ; nor can I like 



PAKADI8K LOST. 113 

Tliis uncouth dream, of evil sprung, I fear ; 

Yet evil whence ? in thee can harbour none, 

Created pure. But know, that in the soul 

Are many lesser faculties, that serve 

Reason as chief ; among these, fancy next 

Her office holds ; of all external things. 

Which the five watchful senses represent, 

She forms imaginations, airy shapes, 

Which reason, joining or disjoining, frames 

All what we affirm or what deny, and caU 

Our knowledge or opinion ; then retires 

Into her private cell when nature rests. 

Oft in her absence mimic fancy wakes 

To imitate her ; but, misjoining shapes, 

WOd work produces oft, and most in dreams, 

111 matching words and deeds long past or late. 

Some such resemblances methinks I find 

Of our last evening's talk, in this thy dream, 

But with addition strange ; yet be not sad : 

Evil into the mind of God or man 

May come and go, so unapproved, and leave 

No spot or blame behind : which gives me hope 

That what in sleep thou didst abhor to dream, 

Waking thou never wilt consent to do. 

Be not disheartened, then, nor cloud those looks. 

That wont to be more cheerful and serene, 

Than when fair morning first smiles on the world: 

And let us to our fresh employments rise 

Among the groves, the fountains, and the flowers 

That open now their choicest bosomed smells, 

Reserved from night, and kept for thee in store." 

So cheered he his fair spouse, and she was cheeredj 
But silently a gentle tear let fall 
From either eye, and whiped them with her hair ; 
Two other precious drops that ready stood. 
Each in their crystal sluice, he, ere they fell. 
Kissed, as the gracious signs of sweet remorse 
And pious awe, that feared to have offended. 

So all was cleared, and to the field they haste. 
But first, from under shady arborous roof, 



114 PAEADISE LOST. 

Soon as they forth were come to open sight 

Of day-spring, and the sun, who scarce up risen. 

With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean brim, 

Sliot parallel to the earth his dewy ray, 

Discovering in wide landscape all the east 

Of Paradise and Eden's happy plains. 

Lowly they bowed adoring, and began 

Their orisons, each morning duly paid 

In various style ; for neither various style 

Nor holy rapture wanted they to praise 

Their maker, in fit strains pronounced or sung 

Unmeditated ; such prompt eloquence 

Flowed from their lips, in prose or numerous verse, 

More tuneable than needed lute or harp 

To add more sweetness ; and they thus began : 

" These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, 
Almighty! Thine this universal frame, 
Thus wondrous fair ; thyself how wondrous then. 
Unspeakable ! who sitt'st above these heavens, 
To us invisible, or dimly seen 
In these thy lowest works ; yet these declare 
The goodness beyond thought, and power divine. 
Speak, ye who best can tell, ye sons of light, 
Angels ; for ye behold him and with songs 
And choral symphonies, day without night, 
Circle his throne rejoicing ; ye m Heaven, 
On earth join all ye creatures to extol 
Him first, him last, him midst and without end. 
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, 
If better thou belong not to the dawn, 
Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn 
With thy bright circlet, praise him in thy sphere. 
While day arises, that sweet hour of prime. 
Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul, 
Acknowledge him thy greater, sound his praise 
In thy eternal course, both when thou climb'st, 
And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall's^., 
Moon, that now meet'st the orient sun, now fli'st, 
With the fixed stars, fixed in their orb that flies. 
And ye five other wandering fires that move 



PABADISE LOST. 115 

In mystic dance not without song, resound 

His praise, who out of darkness called up light. 

Air, and ye elements, the eldest birth 

Of nature's womb, tliat in quaternion run 

Perpetual circle, multiform ; and mix 

And nourish all things ; let your ceaseless change 

Vary to our great Maker still new praise. 

Ye mists and exhalations that now rise 

From hill or steaming lake, dusky or gray, 

Till the sun paint your fleecy skirts with gold, 

In honour to the world's gi'eat Author rise. 

Whether to deck with cloilds the uncoloured sky, 

Or wet the thirsty earth with falling showers. 

Rising or falling still advance his praise. 

His praise, ye wind, that from four quarters blow. 

Breathe soft or loud ; and wave your tops, ye pines, 

With every plant, in sign of worship wave. 

Fountains, and ye that warble as ye flow 

Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise. 

Join voices, all ye living souls ; ye birds, 

That singing up to Heaven-gate ascend. 

Rear on your wings and in your notes his praise. 

Ye that in waters glide, and ye that walk 

The earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep ; 

Witness if I be silent, morn or even, 

To hill or valley, fountain or fresh shade, 

Made vocal by my song, and taught his praise. 

Hail, universal Lord ! be bounteous still 

To give us only good ; and if the night 

Have gathered aught of evil or concealed, 

Disperse it, as now light dispels the dark." 

So prayed they innocent, and to their thoughts 
Firm peace recovered soon, and wonted calm. 
On to their morning's rural work they haste 
Among sweet dews and flowers ; where any row 
Of fruit-trees, over-woody, reached too far 
Their pampered boughs, and needed hands to cheek 
Fruitless embraces : or they led the vine 
To wed her elm ; she, spoused, about him twines 
Her marriageable arms, and with her brings 

8 



116 PABADISB LOST. 

Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn 

His barren leaves. Them thus employed beheld 

With pity Heaven's High King, and to him called 

Raphael, the sociable spirit, that deigned 

To travel with Tobias, and secured 

His marriage with the seven-times-wedded maid. 

" Raphael," said he, " thou hear'st what stir on earth 
Satan, from hell 'scaped through the darksome gulf, 
Hath raised in Paradise, and how disturbed 
This night the human pair ; how he designs 
In them at once to ruin all mankind. 
Go, therefore, half this day, as friend with friend 
Converse with Adam, in what bower or shade 
Thou find'st him from the heat of noon retired, 
To respite his day labour with repast. 
Or with repose ; and such discourse bring on. 
As may advise him of his happy state. 
Happiness in his power left free to will, 
Left to his own free will, his will though free, 
Yet mutable ; whence warn him to beware 
He swerve not, too secure : tell him withal 
His danger, and from whom ; what enemy, 
Late fallen himself from Heaven, is plotting now 
The fall of others from like state of bliss ; 
By violence? no, for that shall be withstood; 
But by deceit and lies ; this let him know, 
Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretend 
Surprisal, unadmonished, unforewarned." 

So spake the Eternal Father, and fulfilled 
All justice: nor delayed the winged saint 
After his charge received ; but from among 
Thousand celestial ardours, where he stood 
Veiled with his gorgeous wings, up springing light 
Flew through the midst of Heaven ; the angelic quireiii 
On each hand parting, to his speed gave way 
Through all the empyreal road ; till at the gate 
Of Heaven arrived, the gate self-opened wide 
On golden hinges turning, as by work 
Divine the sovran Architect had framed. 
From hence no cloud, or, to obstruct his sight, 



PABADISE LOST. 117 

Star interposed, however small he sees, 

Not unconiorm to other shining globes, 

Earth and the garden of God, with cedars crowned 

Above all hills. As when by night the glass 

Of Galileo, less assured, observes 

Imagined lands and regions in the moon: 

Or pilot, from amidst the Cyclades 

Delos or Samos first appearing, kens 

A cloudy spot. Down thither prone in flight 

He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky 

Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing, 

Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan 

Winnows the buxom air ; till within soar 

Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems 

A phoenix, gazed by all, as that sole bird. 

When, to enshrine his relics in the sun's 

Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies. 

At once on the eastern cliff of Paradise 

He lights, and to his proper shape returns 

A seraph winged : six wings he wore, to shade 

His lineaments divine ; the pair that clad 

Each shoulder broad, came mantling o'er his breast 

With regal ornament ; the middle pair 

Girt like a starry zone his waist and round 

Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold, 

And colours dipped in Heaven ; the third his feet 

Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail, 

Sky-tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood. 

And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance filled 

The circuit wide. Straight knew him all the bands 

Of angels under watch ; and to his state, 

And to his mef.f.^ige high, in honour rise ; 

For or. some message high they guessed him bound 

Their glittering tents he passed, and now is come 

Into the blispful field, through groves of myrrh, 

And flowering odours, cassia, nard, and balm ; 

A wilderness of sweets ; for Nature here 

Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will 

Her virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet, 

Wild above rule or art ; enormous bliss. 



118 PARADISE LOST. 

Ilim through the spicy forest onward come, 

Adam discerned, as in the door he sat 

Of his cool bower, while now the mounted sun 

Shot down direct his fervid rays to warm 

Earth's inmost W07nb, more warmth than Adam need* : 

And Eve within, due at her hour prepared 

For dinner savoury fruits, of taste to please 

True appetite, and not disrelish thirst 

Of nectarous draughts between, from milky stream, 

Berry or grape : to whom thus Adam called : 

" Haste hither, Eve, and worth thy sight behold 
Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape 
Comes this way moving ; seems another morn 
Risen on mid-noon ; some great behest from Heaven 
To us, perhaps, he brings, and will vouchsafe 
This day to be our guest. But go with speed, 
And what thy stores contain bring forth, and pour 
Abundance, tit to honour and receive 
Our heavenly stranger : well we may afford 
Our givers their own gifts, and large bestow 
From large bestowed, where nature multiplies 
Her fertile groM'th, and by disburdening grows 
More fruitful, which instructs us not to spare." 

To whom thus Eve : " Adam, earth's liallowed moald 
Of God inspired, small store will serve, where s*Ore, 
All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk ; 
Save what by frugal storing firmness gains 
To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes : 
But I will haste, and from each bough and brake, 
Each plant and juciest gourd, will pluck such choice 
To entertain our angel-guest, as he 
Beholding shall confess, that here on earth 
God hath dispensed his bounties as in Heaven." 

So saying, witli despatchful looks, in haste 
She turns, on hospitable thoughts intent 
What choice to choose for delicacy best, 
Wliat order, so contriv'd as not to mix 
Tastes, not well joined, inelegant, but bring 
Taste after taste uplield with kindliest change ; 
Bestirs her then, and from each tender stalk 



PARADISE LOST. 119 

Whatever earth, all-bearing mother, yields 
In India, East or West, or middle shore 
In Pontus, or the Punic coast, or where 
Alcinous reign'd, fruit of all kinds, in coat 
Rough, or smooth rind, or bearded husk, or shell, 
She gathers, tribute large, and on the board 
Heaps with unsparing hand ; for drink, the grape 
She crushes, inoffensive must, and meaths 
From many a berry, and from sweet kernels pressed 
She tempers dulcet creams ; nor these to hold 
Wants her fit vessels pure ; then strews the ground 
With rose and odours from the shrub unfunied. 

Meanwhile our primitive great sire, to meet 
His godlike guest, walks forth, without more train 
Accompanied than with his own complete 
Perfections ; in himself was all his state. 
More solemn than the tedious pomp that waits 
On princes when their rich retinue long 
Of horses led, and grooms besmeared with gold, 
Dazzles the crowd, and sets them all agape. 
Nearer his presence Adam, though not awed, 
Yet with submiss a{)})roach and reverence meek, 
As to a superior nature, bowing low, 
Thus said : " Native of Heaven, for other place 
None can, than Heaven, such glorious shape contain ; 
Since, by descending from the thrones above, 
Those happy places thou hast deigned awhile 
To want, and honour these, vouchsafe with us 
Two only, who yet by sovran gift possess 
This spacious ground, in yonder sJiady bower 
To rest, and what the garden choicest bears 
To sit and taste, till this meridian heat 
Be over, and the sun more cool decline." 

Whom thus the angelic virtue answered mild: 
" Adam, I therefore came, nor art thou such 
Created, or such place hast here to dwell, 
As may not oft invite, though spirits of Heaven, 
To visit thee ; lead on, then, where thy bower 
O'ershades ; for these mid-hours, till evening rise, 
I have at will." So to the sylvan lodge 



120 PARADISE LOST. 

They came, that like Pomona's arbour smiled 

"With flowerets decked and fragrant smells ; but Eve, 

Undecked saved with herself, more lovely fair 

Than wood-nymph, or the fairest goddess feigned 

Of three that in mount Ida naked strove, 

Stood to entertain her guests from Heaven ; no veil 

She needed, virtue-proof ; no thought infirm 

Altered her cheek. On whom the angel " Hail !" 

Bestowed, the holy salutation used 

Long after to blest Mary, second Eve : 

" Hail, mother of mankind ! whose fruitful womb 
Shall fill the world more numerous with thy sons, 
Than with these various fruits the trees of God 
Have heaped this table." Raised of grassy turf 
Their table was, and mossy seats had round, 
And on her ample square, from side to side. 
All autumn piled, though spring and autumn here 
Danced hand in hand. A while, discourse they hold. 
No fear lest dinner cool ; when thus began 
Our author : " Heavenly stranger, please to taste 
These bounties, which our Nourisher, from whom 
All perfect good, unmeasured out, descends, 
To us for food and for delight hath caused 
The earth to yield : unsavoury food, perhaps. 
To spiritual natures ; only this I know. 
That one celestial Father gives to all." 

To whom the angel : " Therefore, what he givei 
(Whose praise he ever sung) to man, in part 
Spiritual, may of purest spirits be found 
No ingrateful food : and food alike those pure 
Intelligential substances require, 
As doth your rational ; and both contain 
Within them every lower faculty 
Of sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste^ 
Tasting concoct, digest, assimilate. 
And corporeal to incorporeal turn. 
For know, whatever was created, needs 
To be sustained and fed ; of elements 
The grosser feeds the purer, earth the sea, 
Earth and the sea feed air, the air those fires 



PABADISB LOST. 121 

Ethereal, and, as lowest, first the moon; 
"Yhence in her visage round those spots, unpurged 
Tapours not yet into her substance turned. 
Nor doth the moon no nourishment exhale 
Prom her moist continent to higlier orbs. 
The sun that light imparts to all, receives 
From all his alimental recompense 
In humid exhalations, and at even 
?5up8 with the ocean. Though in heaven the trees 
Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines 
Yield nectar; though from off the boughs each mom 
We brush mellifluous dews, and find the ground 
Covered with pearly grain : yet God hath here 
Varied his bounty so with new delights, 
As may compare with Heaven ; and to taste, 
Think not I shall be nice." So down they sat, 
And to their viands fell ; nor seemingly 
The angel, nor in mist, the common gloss 
Of theologians ; but with keen despatch 
Of real hunger, and concoctive heat 
To transubstantiate : what redounds, transpires 
Through spiiits with ease ; nor wonder, if by fire 
Of sooty coal the empiric alchemist 
Can turn, or holds it possible to turn, 
Metals or drossiest ore to perfect gold, 
As from the mine. Meanwhile at table, Eve 
Ministered naked, and their flowing cups 
With pleasant liquors crowned : O innocence 
Deserving Paradise ! If ever, then, 
Then had the sons of God excuse to have been 
Enamoured at that sight ; but in those hearts 
Love unlibidinous reigned, nor jealousy 
Was understood, the injured lover's hell. 

Thus when with meats and drinks they had sufficed, 
Not burdened nature, sudden mind arose 
In Adam not to let the occasion pass, 
Given him by this great conference, to know 
Of things above his world, and of their being 
Who dwell in Heaven, whose excellence he saw 
Transcend his own so far, whose radiant forms, 



123 PARADISB LOST. 

Divine effulgence, whose high power, so far 
Exceeded human ; and his wary speech 
Thus to the empyreal minister he framed : 

" Inhabitant with God, now know I will 
Thy favour, in this honour done to man. 
Under whose lowly roof thou hast vouchsafed 
To enter, and these earthly fruits to taste, 
Food not of angels, yet accepted so, 
As that more willingly thou couldst not seem 
At Heaven's high feasts to have fed : yet what compare?*' 

To whom the winged hierarch replied : 
" O Adam, one Almighty is, from whom 
All things proceed, and up to him return, 
If not depraved from good, created all 
Such to perfection, one first matter all. 
Endued with various forms, various degrees 
Of substance, and in things that live, of life ; 
But more refined, more spirituous, and pure, 
As nearer to him placed or nearer tending, 
Each in their several active spheres assigned. 
Till body up to spirit work, in bounds 
Proportioned to each kind. So from the root 
Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leavei 
More airy, last the bright consummate flower 
Spirits odorous breathes: flowers and their fruit, 
Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed. 
To vital spirits aspire, to animal, 
To intellectual ; give both life and sense, 
Fancy and understanding ; whence the soul 
Reason receives, and reason is her being, 
Discursive, or intuitive ; discourse 
Is oftest yours, the latter most is ours, 
Differing but in degree, of kind the same. 
Wonder not, then, what God for you saw good, 
If I refuse not, but convert, as you. 
To proper substance : time may come, when men 
With angels may participate, and find 
No inconvenient diet, nor too light fare ; 
And from these corporal nutriments, perhaps. 
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit, 



PABADISB LOST. 123 

-niproved by tract of time, and winged ascend 
Ethereal, as we ; or may, at choice. 
Here or in heavenly Paradises dwell ; 
If ye be found obedient, and retain 
Unalterably firm his love entire, 
Whose progeny you are. Meanwhile, enjoy 
Your fill what happiness this happy state 
Can comprehend, incapable of more." 

To whom the patriarch of mankind replied : 
" O favourable spirit, propitious guest. 
Well hast thou taught the way that might direct 
Our knowledge, and the scale of nature set 
From centre to circumstance, whereon. 
In contemplation of created things, 
By steps we may ascend to God. But say. 
What meant that caution joined, ' if ye be found 
Obedient ? ' Can we want obedience then 
To him, or possibly his love desert. 
Who formed us from the dust, and placed us here, 
Full to the utmost measure of what bliss 
Human desires can seek or apprehend ? " 

To whom the angel : " Son of Heaven and earth, 
Attend : that thou art happy, owe to God ; 
That thou continuest such, owe to thyself, 
That is, to thy obedience ; therein stand. 
This was that caution given thee ; be advised. 
God made thee perfect, not immutable ; 
And good he made thee, but to persevere 
He left it in thy power; ordained thy will, 
By nature free, not over-ruled by fate 
Inextricable, or strict necessity : 
Our voluntary service he requires. 
Not our necessitated ; such with him 
Finds no acceptance, nor can find ; for how 
Can hearts, not free, be tried whether they serve 
Willing or no, who will but what they must 
By destiny, and can no other choose ? 
Myself, and all the angelic host, that stand 
In sight of God enthroned, our happy state 
Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds j 



124 PARADISE LOST. 

On other surety none : freely we serve, 
Because we freely love, as in our will 
To love or not ; in this we stand or fa .' : 
And some are fallen, to disobedience ''alien, 
And so from Heaven to deepest Hell ; O fall 
From what high state of bliss, into what woe ! '* 

To whom our great progenitor : " Thy words 
Attentive, and with more delighted ear, 
Oivine instructor, I have heard, than when 
Cherubic songs by niglit from neighbouring hills 
Aerial music send : nor knew I not 
To be both will and deed created free ; 
Yet that we never shall forget to love 
Our Maker, and obey him, whose command 
Single is yet so just, my constant thoughts 
Assured me, and still assure ; though what thou tell'st 
Plath passed in Heaven, some doubt within me move, 
But more desire to hear, if thou consent, 
The full relation, which must needs be strange, 
Worthy of sacred silence to be heard ; 
And we have yet large day, for scarce the sun 
Hath finished half his journey, and scarce begins 
His other half in the great zone of Heaven." w 

Thus Adam made request ; and Raphael, 
After short pause assenting, thus began : 

"Pligh matter thou enjoin'st me, O prime of men, 
Sad task and hard ; for how shall I relate 
To human sense tlie invisible exploits 
Of warring spirits ? how, without remorse, 
The ruin of so many glorious once 
And perfect while they stood ? how last unfold 
The secrets of another world, perhaps 
Not lawful to reveal ? yet for thy good 
This is dispensed ; and what surmounts the reach 
Of human sense, I shall delineate so. 
By likening spiritual to corporal forms. 
As may express them best ; though what if earth 
Be but the shadow of Heaven, and things therein 
Each to other like, more than on earth is thought ? 

" As yet this world was not, and Chaos wild 



PARADISE LOST. 125 

Reigned wLere these Heavens now roll, where earth now 

Upon her centre poised ; when on a day [rests 

(For time, though in eternity, applied 

To motion, measures all things durable 

By present, past, and future), on such day 

As Heaven's great year brings forth the empyreal host 

Of angels, by imperial summons called. 

Innumerable before the Almighty's throne 

Forthwith from all the ends of Heaven appeared 

Under their hierarchs in orders bright ; 

Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced, 

Standards and gonfalons twixt van and rear 

Stream in the air, and for distinction serve 

Of hierarchies, of orders, and degrees ; 

Or in their glittering tissues bear emblazed 

Holy memorials, acts of zeal and love 

Recorded eminent. Thus when in orbs 

Of circuit inexpressible they stood, 

Orb within orb, the Father infinite, 

By whom in bliss embosomed sat the Son, 

Amidst as from a flaming mount, whose top 

Brightness had made invisible, thus spake : 

" ' Hear all ye angels, progeny of light, 
Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers, 
Here my decree, which unrevoked shall stand. 
This day I have begot whom I declare 
My only Son, and on this holy hill 
Him have annointed, whom ye now behold 
At my right hand ; your head I him appoint ; 
An i by myself have sworn to him shall bow 
All knees in Heaven, and shall confess him Lord ; 
Under his great vicegerent reign abide 
United as one individual soul, 
For ever happy : him who disobeys, 
Me disobeys, break union, and that day. 
Cast out from God and blessed vision, falls 
Into utter darkness, deep engulfed, his place 
Ordained without redemption, without end.' 

" So spake the Omnipotent, and with his words 
All seemed well pleased : all seemed, but were not all. 



126 PAEADISE LOST. 

That day, as other solemn days, they spent 

In song and dance about the sacred hill ; 

Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere 

Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels 

Resembles nearest, mazes intricate, 

Eccentric intervolved, yet regular 

Then most, when most irregular they seem ; 

And in their motions harmony divine 

So smoothes her charming tones, that God's own eas 

Listens delighted. Evening now approached 

(For we have also our evening and our morn, 

We ours for change delectable, not need) ; 

Forthwith from dance to sweet repast they turn 

Desirous ; all in circles as they stood. 

Tables ai-e set, and on a sudden piled 

With angels' food, and rubied nectar flows 

In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold. 

Fruit of delicious vines, tlie growth of Heaven. 

On flowers reposed, and with fresh flowerets crowned. 

They eat, they drink, and in communion sweet 

Quaff immortality and joy, secure 

Of surfeit where full measure only bounds 

Excess, before the all-bounteous King, who showered 

With copious hand, rejoicing in their joy. 

Now when ambrosial night, with clouds exhaled 

From that high mount of God, whence light and shade 

Spring both, the face of brightest Heaven had changed 

To grateful twilight (for night comes not there 

In darker veil), and roseate dews disposed 

All but the ur.sleejnng eyes of God to rest; 

Wide over all the plain, and wider far 

Than all this glorious earth in plain outspread 

(Such are the courts of God), the angelic throng, 

Dispersed in bands and files, their cam[) extend 

By living streams among the trees of life. 

Pavilions numberless, and sudden reared, 

Celestial tabernacles, where they slept. 

Fanned with cool winds ; save those who in their cov-ge 

Melodious liymns about the sovereign throne 

Alternate all night lung : but not so waked 



PARADISB LOST. 127 

wSatan ; so call him now, his former name 

Is heard no more in Heaven ; he of the flrst, 

If not the first archangel, great in power, 

In favor and pre-eminence, yet fraught 

With envy against the Son of God, that day 

Honoured by his great Father, and proclaimed 

Messiah King anointed, could not bear 

Through pride that sight, and thought himself impaired. 

Deep malice thence conceiving and disdain, 

Soon as midnight brought on the dusky ho^ir 

Friendliest to sleep and silence, he resolved 

With all his legions to dislodge, and leave 

Unworshipped, unobeyed, the throne supreme, 

Contemptuous ; and his next subordinate 

Awakening, thus to him in secret spake : 

" ' Sleep'st thou, companion dear? What sleep can close 
Thy eye-lids, and rememberest what decrje 
Of yesterday, so late hath passed the lips 
Of Heaven's Almighty ? Thou to me thy thought? 
Wast wont, I mine to thee was wont to impart ; 
Both waking we were one ; how then can now 
Thy sleep dissent ? New laws thou seest imposed ; 
New laws from him who reigns, new minds may raise 
In us who serve, new counsels, to debate 
What doubtful may ensue : more in this place 
To utter is not safe. Assemble thou 
Of all those myriads which we lead the chief ; 
Tell them that by command, ere yet dim night 
Her shadowy cloud withdraws, I am to haste, 
And all who under me their banners wave, 
Homeward with liying march where we possess 
The quarters of the north ; there to prepare 
Fit entertainment to receive our King, 
The great Messiah, and his new commands, 
Who speedily through all the hierarchies 
Intends to pass triumphant, and give laws.' 

" So spake the false archangel, and infused 
Bad influence into the unwary breast 
Of his asssociates : he together calls, 
Or several one by one, the I'cgent powers, 



128 PARADISE LOST. 

Under him regent ; tells, as he was taught, 
That the most High commanding, now ere night, 
Now ere dim night had disencumbered Heaven, 
The great hierarchal standard was to move ; 
Tells the suggested cause, and casts between 
Ambiguous words and jealousies, to sound 
Or taint integrity : but all obeyed 
The wonted signal, and superior voice 
Of their great potentate ; for great indeed 
His name, and high was his degree in Heaven ; 
His countenance, as the morning-star that guides 
The starry flock, allured them, and with lies 
Drew after him the third part of Heaven's host. 
Meanwhile the eternal eye, whose sight discerns 
Abstrusest thoughts, from forth his holy mount, 
And from within the golden lamps that burn 
Nightly before him, saw without their light 
Rebellion rising ; saw tn whom, how spread 
Among the sons of morn, what multitudes 
Were banded to oppose his high decree ; 
And, smiling, to his only Son thus said : 

" ' Son, thou in whom my glory I behold 
In full resplendence, heir of all my might. 
Nearly it now concerns us to be sure 
Of our omnipotence, and with what arms 
We mean to hold what anciently we claim 
Of deity or empire ; such a foe 
Is rising, who intends to erect his throne 
Equal to ours, throughout the spacious north ; 
Nor so content, hath in his thought to try 
In battle, what our power is, or our right. 
Let us advise, and to this hazard draw 
With speed what force is left, and all employ 
In our defence, lest unawares we lose 
This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill.* 

" To whom the Son, with calm aspect and cleari 
Lightning divine, ineffable, serene, 
Made answer : ' Mighty Father, thou thy foes 
Justly hast in derision, and secure 
Laugh'st at their vain designs and tumults vain, 



PABADISB LOST. 129 

Matter to me of glory, whom their hate 
Illustrates, when they see all regal power 
Given me to quell their pride, and in event 
Knew whether I be dexterous to subdue 
Thy rebels, or be found the worst in Heaven.* 

" So spake the Son ; but Satan with his powers 
Far was advanced on winged speed, an host 
Innumerable as the stars of night. 
Or stars of morning, dew-drops, which the sun 
Irapearls on every leaf and every flower. 
Regions they passed, the mighty regencies 
Of seraphim, and potentates, and thrones, 
In their triple degrees ; regions to which 
All thy dominion, Adam, is no more 
Than what this garden is to all the earth, 
And all the sea, from one entire globose 
Stretched into longitude ; which having passed, 
At length into the limits of the north 
They came, and Satan to his royal seat, 
High on a hill, far blazing, as a mount 
Raised on a mount, with pyramids and towers, 
From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold ; 
The place of great Lucifer (so call 
That structure in the dialect of men 
Interpreted), which not long after, he 
Affecting all equality with God, 
In imitation of that mount whereon 
Messiah was declared in sight of Heaven, 
The Mountain of the Congregation called ; 
For thither he assembled all his train, 
Pretending so commanded to consult 
About the great reception of their King 
Thither to come, and with calumnious art 
Of counterfeited truth thus held their ears : 

" ' Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers, 
If these raagnific titles yet remain 
Not merely titular, since by decree 
Another now hath to himself engrossed 
All power, and us eclipsed, under the name 
Of King anointed, for whom all this haste 

9 



130 PAEADISB LOST. 

Of midnight march, and hurried meeting here 
This only to consult ; how we may best, 
With what may be devised of honours new, 
Receive him coming to receive from us 
Knee-tribute yet unpaid, prostration vile. 
Too much to one, but double how endured, 
To one and to his image now proclaimed ? 
But what if better counsels might erect 
Our minds, and teach us to cast off this yoke? 
Will ye submit your necks, and choose to bend 
The supple knee ? Ye will not if I trust 
To know ye right, or if ye know yourselves, 
Natives and sons of Heaven, possessed before 
By none, and if not equal all, yet free. 
Equally free ; for orders and degrees 
Jar not with liberty, but well consist. 
Who can in reason then, or right, assume 
Monarchy over such as live by right 
His equals, if in power and splendour less, 
In freedom equal? or can introduce 
Law and edict on us, who, without law. 
Err not ? much less for this to be our Lord, 
And look for adoration, to the abuse 
Of those imperial titles, which assert 
Our being ordained to govern, not to serve.' 

" Thus far his bold discourse without control 
Had audience, when among the seraphim 
Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adored 
The Deity, and divine commands obeyed, 
Stood up, and in a flame of zeal severe. 
The current of his fury thus opposed : 

"'Oh, argument blasphemous, false and proud! 
Words which no ear ever to hear in Heaven 
Expected, least of all from thee, ingrate. 
In place thyself so high above thy peers. 
Canst thou with impious obloquy condemn 
The just decree of God, pronounced and sworn, 
That to his only Son, by right endued 
With regal sceptre, every soul in Heaven 
Shall bend the knee, and in that honour due 



PAEADISK LOST. 131 

Confess hira rightful King? unjust, thou sayst, 

Flatly unjust, to bind with laws the free, 

And equal over equals to let reign. 

One over all with unsucceeded power. 

Shalt thou give law to God ? shalt thou dispute 

With him the points of liberty, who made 

Thee what thou art, and formed the powers of Heaven 

Such as he pleased, and circumscribed their being? 

Yet, by experience taught, we know how good, 

And of our good and of our dignity 

How provident he is, how far from thought 

To make us less, bent rather to exalt 

Our happy state under one head more near 

United. But to grant it thee unjust. 

That equal over equals monarch reign : 

Thyself, thou great and glorious, dost thou count, 

Or all angelic nature joined in one, 

Equal to him begotten Son ? by whom. 

As by his word, the mighty father made 

All things, even thee ; and all the spirits of Heaven 

By him created in their bright degrees. 

Crowned them with glory, and to their gloiy named 

Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers, 

Essential powers ; nor by his reign obscured. 

But more illustrious made ; since he the head. 

One of our number thus reduced becomes ; 

His laws our laws ; all honour to hira done 

Returns our own. Cease then this impious rage, 

And tempt not these, but hasten to appease 

The incensed Father, and the incensed Son, 

While pardon may be found in time besought.* 

" So spake the fervent angel ; but his zeal 
None seconded, as out of season judged, 
Or singular and rash ; whereat rejoiced 
The apostate, and more haughty thus replied : 

" ' That we were formed then, sayest thou ? and the work 
Of secondary hands, by task transferred 
From Father to his Son ? strange point and new ! 
Doctrine which we would know whence learned : who saw 
When this creation was ? rememberest thou 



132 PAEADISE LOST. 

Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being? 
We know no time when we were not as now ; 
Know none before us, self-begot, self-raised 
By our own quickening power, when fatal course 
Had circled his full orb, the birth mature 
Of this our native Heaven, ethereal sons. 
Our puissance is our own ; our own right hand 
Shall teach us highest deeds, by proof to try 
Who is our equal: then thou shalt behold 
Whether by supplication we intend 
Address, and to begirt the almighty throne 
Beseeching or besieging. This report, 
These tidings carry to the anointed King; 
And fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.' 

" He said, and as the sound of waters deep, 
Hoarse murmur echoed to his words applause 
Through the infinite host ; nor less for that 
The flaming seraph fearless, though alone, 
Encompassed round with foes, thus answered bold 

" ' O alienate from God, O spirit accursed, 
Forsaken of all good ! I see thy fall 
Determined, and thy hapless crew involved 
In this perfidious fraud, contagion spread 
Both of thy crime and punishment : henceforth 
No more be troubled how to quit the yoke 
Of God's Messiah ; those indulgent laws 
Will not be now v(5uchsafed ; other decrees 
Against thee are gone forth without recall ; 
That golden sceptre, which thou didst reject, 
Is now an iron rod to bruise and break 
Thy disobedience. Well thou didst advise ; 
Yet not for thy advice or threats I fly 
These wicked tents devoted, lest the wrath 
Impendent, raging into sudden flame. 
Distinguish not ; for soon expect to feel 
His thunder on thy head, devouring fire. 
Then who created thee lamenting learn. 
When who can uncreate thee thou shalt know.* 

" So spake the seraph Abdiel, faithful found 
Among the faithless, faithful only he ; 



PARADISE LOST. 133 

Among innumerable false, unmoved, 

Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified. 

His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal ; 

Nor number, nor example, with him wrought 

To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind, 

Though single. From amidst them forth he passed, 

Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustained 

Superior, nor of violence feared aught ; 

And with retorted scorn his back he turned 

On those proud towers to swift destruction doomed. 



134 PABADISE LOST. 



BOOK VI. 



THE AKGUMBNT. 

Raphael continues to relate how Michael and Gabriel were sent forth 

to battle against Satan and his angels. Tlie firi-t fij:ht described: Satan 
and his powers retire under niglit : he calls a council, invents devilish 
engines, which, in the second day's fight, put Michael and his angels to 
some disorder ; but they at length, pulling up mountainti, overwhelmed 
both the force and machines of Satan : yet the tumult not so ending, 
God on the third day sends Messiah his Son, for whom he had reserved 
the glory of that victory : he, in the power of his Father, coming to the 
place, and causing all his legions to stand still on either side, with his 
chariot and thunder driving into the midst of his enemies, pursues them, 
unable to resist, towards the wall of Heaven ; which opening, they leaj 
down with horror and confusion into the place of }iunislnnent prepared 
for them in the deep : Messiah returns with triumph to his Father. 

" All night the dreadless angel, unpursued, 

Through Heaven's wide champain held his way; till morn, 

Waked by the circling hours, with rosy hand 

Unbarred the gates of light. There is a cave 

Within the mount of God, fast by his throne. 

Where light and darkness in perpetual round 

Lodge and dislodge by turns, which makes through 

Heaven 
Grateful vicissitudes like day and night ; 
Light issues forth, and at the other door 
Obsequious darkness enters, till her hour 
To veil the heaven, though darkness there might well 
Seem twilight here ; and now went forth the morn, 
Such as in highest Heaven, arrayed m gold 
' Empyreal ; from before her vanished night. 
Shot through with orient beams ; when all the plain, 
Covered with thick embattled squadrons bright. 
Chariots and flaming arms, and fiery steeds, 
Reflecting blaze on blaze, first met his view : 



PAIiADlSE LOST. 185 

War he perceived, war in procinct, and found 
Already known what he for news had thought 
To have reported : gladly then he mixed 
Among those friendly powers, whom him received 
With joy and acclamations loud, that one, 
That of so many myriads fallen, yet one 
Returned not lost. On to the sacred hill 
They led him high applauded, and ]>resent 
Before the seat su])reme ; from whence a voice, 
From midst a golden cloud thus mild was heard : 

" ' Servant of God, well done ! well hast thou fought 
The better fight, who single hast maintained 
Against revolted multitudes the cause 
Of truth, in word mightier than they in arms ; 
And for the testimony of truth hast borne 
Universal reproach, far worse to bear 
Than violence ; for this was all thy care, 
To stand approved in sight of God, though worlds 
Judged thee perverse : the easier conquest now 
Remains thee, aided by this host of friends, 
Back on thy foes more glorious to return 
Than scorned thou didst depart ; and to subdue 
By force, who reason for their law refuse ; 
Right reason for their law, and for their King 
Messiah, who by right of merit reigns. 
Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince, 
And thou in. military prowess next, 
Gabriel, lead forth to battle these ray sons 
Invincible, lead forth my armed saints 
By thousands and by millions ranged for fight, 
Equal in number to that godless crew 
Rebellious ; them with fire and hostile arms 
Fearless assault, and to the brow of Heaven 
Pursuing, drive them out from God and bliss 
Into their place of punishment, the gulf 
Of Tartarus, which ready opens wide 
His fiery chaos to receive their fall.' 

" So spake the sovran voice, and clouds begai 
To darken all the hill, and smoke to roll 
In dusky wreaths, reluctant flames, the sign 



136 PABADISE LOST. 

Of wrath awaked ; nor with less dread the loud 

Ethereal trumpet from on high 'gan blow : 

At which command the powers militant, 

That stood for Heaven, in mighty quadrate joined 

Of union irresistible, moved on 

In silence their bright legions, to the sound 

Of instrumental harmony, that breathed 

Heroic ardour to adventurous deeds 

Under their godlike leaders, in the cause 

Of God and his Messiah. On they move 

Indissolubly firm ; nor obvious hill, 

Nor straitening vale, nor wood, nor stream, divides 

Their perfect ranks ; for high above the ground 

Their march was, and the passive air npbore 

Their nimble tread : as when the total kind 

Of birds, in ordez'ly array on wing. 

Came summoned over Eden to receive 

Their names of thee ; so over many a tract 

Of Heaven they marched, and many a province wide 

Tenfold the length of this terrene : at last, 

Far in the horizon to the north appeared 

From skirt to skirt a fiery region, stretched 

In battailous aspect and nearer view 

Bristled with upright beams innumerable 

Of rigid spears, and hemlets thronged, and shields 

Various, with boastful argument portrayed, 

The banded powers of Satan hasting on 

With furious expedition ; for they weened 

That self-same day by fight, or by surprise, 

To win the mount of God, and on his throne 

To set the envier of his state, the proud 

Aspirer ; but their thoughts proved fond and vain 

In the midway : though strange to us it seemed 

At first, that angel should with angel war. 

And in fierce hosting meet, who wont to meet 

So oft in festivals of joy and love 

Unanimous, as sons of one great Sire, 

Hymning the eternal Father. But the shout 

Of battle now began, and rushing sound 

Of onset, ended soon each milder thought. 



PABADISB LOST. 137 

High in the midst, exalted as a god, 

The apostate in his sun-bright chariot sat, 

Idol of majesty divine, enclosed 

With flaming cherubim and golden shields ; 

Then lighted from his gorgeous throne ; for now, 

'Twixt host and host, but narrow space was left, 

A dreadful interval, and front to front 

Presented stood in terrible array 

Of hideous length : before the cloudy van, 

On the rough edge of battle ere it joined, 

Satan, with vast and haughty strides advanced. 

Came towering, armed in adamant and gold ; 

Abdiel that sight endured not, where he stood 

Among the mightiest, bent on highest deeds, 

And thus his own undaunted heart explores : 

•' ' O Heaven I that such resemblance of the Highest 
Should yet remain, where faith and realty 
Remain not! wherefore should not strength and might 
There fail where virtue fails, or weakest prove 
Where boldest, though to sight unconquerable ? 
His puissance, trusting in the Almighty's aid, 
I mean to try, whose reason I have tried 
Unsound and false ; nor is it aught but just, 
That he who in debate of truth hath won. 
Should win in arms, in both disputes alike 
Victor; though brutish that contest and foul. 
When reason hath to deal with force, yet so 
Most reason is that reason overcome.' 

" So pondering, and from his armed peers 
Forth stepping opposite, half-way he met 
His daring foe, at this prevention more 
Incensed, and thus securely him defied : 

" ' Proud ! art thou met ? thy hope was to have reached 
The height of thy aspiring unopposed. 
The throne of God unguarded, and his side 
Abandoned at the terror of thy power 
Or potent tongue : fool ! not to think how vain 
Against the Omnipotent to rise in arms ; 
Who out of smallest things could without end 
Have raised incessant armies to defeat 



138 PARADISK LOST. 

Thy folly ; or, with solitary hand, 

Reaching beyond all limit, at one blow 

Unaided could have finished thee, and whelmed 

Thy legions under darkness : but thou seest 

All are not of thy train ; there be who faith 

Prefer, and piety to God, though then 

To thee not visible, when I alone 

Seemed in thy world erroneous to dissent 

From all : my sect thou seest ; now learn too late 

How few sometimes may know, when thousands err. 

" Whom the grand foe, with scornful eye askance, 
Thus answered : ' lU for thee, but in wished hour 
Of my revenge, first sought for, thou return'st 
From flight, seditious angol ! to receive 
Thy merited reward, the first assay 
Of this right hand provoked, since first that tongue, 
Inspired with contradiction, durst oppose 
A third part of the gods, in synod met 
Their deities to assert ; who, while they feel 
Vigour divine within them, can allow 
Omnipotence to none. But well thou com'st 
Before thy fellows, ambitious to win 
From me some plume, that thy success may show 
Destruction to the rest : this pause between 
(Unanswered lest thou boast) to let thee know. 
At first I thought that liberty and Heaven 
To heavenly souls had been all one ; but now 
I see that most through sloth had rather serve, 
Ministering spirits, trained up in feast and song ; 
Such hast thou armed, the minstrelsy of Heaven, 
Servility with freedom to contend. 
As both their deeds compared this day shall prove.* 

" To whom in brief thus Abdiel stern i*eplied : 
' Apostate ! still thou err'st, nor end wilt find 
Of erring, from the path of truth remote : 
Unjustly thou deprav'st it with the name 
Of servitude, to serve whom God ordains, 
Or nature ; God 'and nature bid the same, 
WTien he who rules is worthiest, and excels 
Them whom he governs. This is servitude. 



PARADISB LOST. 139 

To serve the unwise, or him who hath rebelled 
Against his worthier, as thine now serve thee, 
Thyself not free, but to thyself enthralled ; 
Yet lewdly dar'st our ministering upbraid. 
Reign thou in Hell thy kingdom ; let me serve 
[n Heaven God ever blest, and his divine 
Behests obey, worthiest to be obeyed ; 
Tet chains in Hell, not realms, expect : meanwhile 
From me returned, as erst thou saidst, from flight, 
This greeting on thy impious crest receive.' 
" So saying, a noble stroke he lifted high, 
Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell 
On the proud crest of Satan, that no siglit. 
Nor motion of swift thought, less could his shield, 
Such ruin intercept : ten paces huge 
He back recoiled ; the tenth on bended knee 
His massy spear upstayed ; as if on earth 
Winds under ground, or waters forcing way 
Sidelong, had pushed a mountain from his seat, 
Half sunk with all his pines. Amazement seized 
The rebel thrones, but greater rage to see 
Thus foiled their mightiest ; ours joy filled, and shout, 
Presage of victory, and fierce desire 
Of battle: whereat Michael bid sound 
The Archangel trumpet : through the vast of Heaven 
It sounded, and the faithful armies rung 
Hosanna to the Highest ; nor stood at gaze 
The adverse legions ; nor less hideous joined 
The horrid shock. Now storming fury rose, 
And clamour such as heard in Heaven till now 
Was never ; arms on armour clashing brayed 
Horrible discord, and the madding wheels 
Of brazen chariots raged ; dire was the noise 
Of conflict ; overhead the dismal hiss 
Of fiery darts in flaming volleys flew. 
And flying vaulted either host with fire. 
So under fiery cope together rushed 
Both battles main, with ruinous assault 
And inextinguishable rage. All Heaven 
Resounded, and had earth been then, all earth 



140 PARADISE LOST. 

Had to her centre shook. What wonder, when 

Millions of tierce encountering angels fought 

On either side, the least of whom could wield 

These elements, and arm him with the force 

Of all their regions ? How much more of power, 

Army against army numberless to raise 

Dreadful combustion warring, and disturb, 

Though not destroy, their happy native seat ; 

Had not the eternal King omnipotent, 

From his strong hold of Heaven, high over-ruled 

And limited their might ; though numbered such 

As each divided legion might have seemed 

A numerous host ; in strength each armed hand 

A legion ; led in fight, yet leader seemed 

Each warrior, single as in chief, expert 

When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway 

Of battle, open when, and when to close 

The ridges of grim war : no thought of flight ; 

None of retreat ; no unbecoming deed 

That argued fear ; each on himself relied, 

As only in his arm the moment lay 

Of victory. Deeds of eternal fame 

Were done, but infinite ; for wide was spread 

That war and various ; sometimes on firm ground 

A standing fight, then soaring on main wing 

Tormented all the air ; all air seemed then 

Conflicting fire. Long time in even scale 

The battle hung ; till Satan, who that day 

Prodigious power had shown, and met in arms 

No equal, ranging through the dire attack 

Of fighting seraphim confused, at length 

Saw where the sword of Michael smote, and felled 

Squadrons at once ; with huge two-handed sway 

Brandished aloft, the horrid edge came down 

Wide wasting : such destruction to withstand 

He hasted, and opposed the rocky orb 

Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield, 

A vast circumference. At his approach 

The great archangel from his warlike toil 

Surceased, and glad, as hoping here to end 



PARADISB LOST. 141 

Intestine war in Heaven, the arch foe subdued, 
Or captive dragged in chains, with hostile frown 
And visage all inflamed, first thus began : 

" 'Author of evil, unknown till thy revolt, 
Unnamed in Heaven, now plenteous, as thou seest 
These acts of hateful strife, hateful to all, 
Though heaviest by just measure on thyself 
And thy adherents : how hast thou disturbed 
Heaven's blessed peace, and into nature brought 
Misery, uncreated till the crime 
Of thy rebellion ! how hast thou instilled 
Thy malice into thousands, once upright 
And faithful, now proved false ! But think not here 
To trouble holy rest ; Heaven casts thee out 
From all her confines. Heaven, the seat of bliss, 
Brooks not the works of violence and war. 
Hence then, and evil go with thee along, 
Thy offspring, to the place of evil, Hell, 
Thou and thy wicked crew ; there mingle broils, 
Ere this avenging sword begin thy doom, 
Or some more sudden vengeance, winged from God, 
Precipitate thee with augmented pain.' 

" So spake the prince of angels: to whom thus 
The adversary : ' Nor think thou with wind 
Of airy threats to awe, whom yet with deeds 
Thou canst not. Hast thou turned the last of these 
To flight, or if to fall, but that they rise 
Unvanquished, easier to transact with me 
That thou shouldst hope, imperious, and with threat! 
To chase me hence ? Err not that so shall end 
The strife which thou call'st evil, but we style 
The strife of glory ; which we mean to win, 
Or turn this Heaven itself into the Hell 
Thou fablest ; here, however, to dwell free. 
If not to reign : meanwhile thy utmost force, 
And join him named Almighty to thy aid ; 
I fly not, but have sought thee, far and nigh.' 

" They ended parle, and both addressed for fight 
Unspeakable : for who, though with the tongue 
Of angels, can relate, or to what things 



142 PARADISE LOST. 

Liken on earth conspicuous, that may lift 

Human imagination to such height 

Of gudlike power ? for likest gods they seemed, 

Stood they or moved, in statue, motion, ani.s, 

Fit to decide the empire of gi-eat Heaven. 

NoM^ waved their fiery swords, and in the air 

Made horrid circles ; two broad suns their shields 

Blazed opposite, while expectation stood 

In horror : from each hand with speed retired, 

Where erst was thickest fight, the angelic throng, 

And left large field, unsafe within the wind 

Of such commotion ; such as (to set forth 

Great things by small) if, nature's concord broke, 

Among the constellations war were sprung, 

Two ]ilanets, rushmg from aspect malign 

Of fiercest opposition, in mid sky 

Sliould combat, and their jarring spheres confound. 

Together both, with next to Almighty ami, 

Uplifted imminent ; one stroke they aimed 

Tliat might determine, and not need repeat. 

As not of power at once ; nor odds appeared 

In might or swift prevention : but the sword 

Of Michael, from the armoury of God 

Was given him tem])ered so, that neither keen 

Nor solid might resist tliat edge : it met 

The sword of Satan with steep force to smite 

Descending, and in half cut sheer; nor stayed, 

But with swift wheel reverse, deej) entering, shared 

All his right side : then Satan first knew" pain, 

And writhed him to and fro convolved ; so sore 

The griding sword with discontinuous wound 

Passed through him : but the ethereal substance closed, 

Not long divisible, and from the gash 

A stream of nectarous humour issuing flowed 

Sanguine, such as celestial spirits may bleed. 

And all his armour stained, erewhile so bright. 

Forthwith on all sides to his aid was run 

By angels many and strong, who interposed 

Defence, while others bore him on their shields 

Back to his chariot, where it stood retired 



rABADISE LOST. 143 

From off the fields of war ; there they him laid, 

Gnashing for anguish and despite and shame, 

To find himself not matchless, and his pride 

Humbled by such rebuke, so far beneath 

His confidence to equal God in power. 

Yet soon he healed ; for spirits that live throughout 

Vital in every part, not as frail man 

In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins, 

Cannot but by annihilating die ; 

Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound 

Receive, no more than can the fluid air. 

All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear, 

All intellect, all sense ; and, as they please, 

They limb themselves, and colour, shape or size 

Assume, as likes them best, condense or rare. 

" Meanwhile in other parts, like deeds deserved 
Memorial, where the might of Gabriel fought, 
And with fierce ensigns pierced the deep array 
Of Moloch, furious king, who him defied, 
And at his chariot wheels to drag him bound 
Threatened, nor from the Holy One of Heaven 
Refrained his tongue blasphemous , but anon, 
Down cloven to the waist, with shattered arms 
And uncouth pain fled bellowing. On each wing 
Uriel and Raphael his vaunting foe, 
Though huge, and in a rock of diamond armed. 
Vanquished Adramelech, and Asmadai, 
Two potent thrones, that to be less than gods 
Disdained, but meaner thoughts learned in their flight, 
Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail 
Nor stood unmindful Abdiel to annoy 
The atheist crew, but with redoubled blow 
Ariel and Arioch, and the violence 
Of Ramiel, scorched and blasted, overthrew. 
I might relate to thousands, and their names 
Eternize here on earth ; but those elect 
Angels, contented with their fame in Heaven, 
Seek not the praise of men : the other sort, 
In might though wondrous and in acts of war, 
Nor of renown less eager, yet by doom 



144 PAEADISB LOST. 

Cancelled from Heaven and sacred memory, 
Nameless in dark oblivion let them dwell. 
For strenj^h from truth divided, and from just, 
Illaudable, nought merits but dispi-aise 
And ignominy, yet to glory aspires 
Vain-Glorious, and through infamy seeks fame : 
Therefore eternal silence be their doom. 

" And now, their mightiest quelled, the battle swerveti, 
With many an inroad gored ; deformed rout 
Entered, and foul disorder ; all the ground 
With shivered armour strown, and on a heap 
Chariot and charioteer lay overturned, 
And fiery foaming steeds ; what stood, recoiled 
O'er-wearied, through the faint Satanic host 
Defensive scarce, or with pale fear surprised, 
Then first with fear surprised and sense of pain. 
Fled ignominious, to such evil brought 
By sin of disobedience, till that hour 
Not liable to fear, or flight, or pain. 
Far otherwise the inviolable saints, 
In cubic phalanx firm advanced entire, 
Invulnerable, impenetrably armed ; 
Such high advantages their innocence 
Gave them above their foes, not to have sinned. 
Not to have disobeyed ; in siglit they stood 
Unwearied, unobnoxious to be pained 
By wound, though from their place by Adolence moved. 

" Now night her course began, and, over Heaven 
Inducing darkness, grateful truce imposed. 
And silence on the odious din of war ; 
Under her cloudy covert both retired, 
Victor and vanquished : on the foughten field 
Michael and his angels prevalent 
Encamping, placed in guard their watches round, 
Cherubic waving fires : on the other part 
Satan with his rebellious disappeared, 
Far in the dark dislodged ; and, void of rest, 
His potentates to council called by night ; 
And in the midst thus undismayed began : 

" ' O now in danger tried, now known in arms 



PARADISE LOST. 145 

Not to be overpowered, companions dear, 

Found Avortliy not of liberty alone, 

Too mean pretence, but what we more affect, 

Honour, dominion, glory, and renown ; 

Who have sustained one day in doubtful fight 

(And if one day, why not eternal days ?) 

What Heaven's Lord had powerfullest to send 

Against us from about his throne, and judged 

Sufficient to siabdue us to his will. 

But proves not so : then fallible, it seems, 

Of future we may deem him, though till now 

Omniscient thought. True is, less firmly armed, 

Some disadvantage we endured, and pain, 

Till now not known, but, known, as soon contemned 

Since now we find this our empyreal form 

Incapable of mortal injury. 

Imperishable, and though pierced with wound. 

Soon closing, and by native vigour healed. 

Of evil then so small as easy think 

The remedy ; perhaps more valid arms, 

Weapons more violent, when next we meet. 

May serve to better us, and worse our foes. 

Or equal what between us made the odds, 

In nature none ; if other hidden cause 

Left them superior, while we can preserve 

Unhurt our minds and understanding sound. 

Due search and consultation will disclose.' 

" He sat : and in the assembly next upstood 
Nisroch, of principalities the prime ; 
As one he stood escaped from cruel fight. 
Sore toiled, his riven arms to havoc hewn. 
And cloudy in aspect thus answering spake : 

" ' Deliverer from new lords, leader to free 
Enjoyment of our right as gods ; yet hard 
For gods, and too unequal work we find, 
Against unequal arms to fight in pain. 
Against unpained, impassive ; from which evil 
Ruin must needs ensue ; for what avails 
Valour or strength, though matchless, quelled with pain 
Which all subdues, and makes remiss the hands 

10 



146 PARADISE LOST. 

Of mightiest ? Sense of pleasure we may well 
Spare out of life, perhaps, and not repine, 
But live content, which is the calmest life : 
But pain is perfect misery, the worst 
Of evils, and, excessive, overturns 
All patience. He who therefore can invent 
With what more forcible we may offend 
Our yet un wounded enemies, or arm 
Ourselves with like defence, to me deserves 
No less than for deliverance what we owe.' 

" Whereto, with look composed, Satan replied : 
' Not uninvented that, which thou aright 
Believ'st so main to our success, I bring. 
Which of us who beholds the bright surface 
Of this ethereous mould whereon we stand. 
This continent of spacious Heaven, adorned 
With plan, fruit, flower ambrosial, gems and gold ; 
Whose eye so superficially surveys 
These things, as not to mind from whence they grow 
Deep under ground, materials dark and crude, 
Of spirituous and fiery spume, till touched 
With Heaven's ray, and tempered, they shoot forth 
So beauteous, opening to the ambient light ? 
These in their dark nativity, the deep 
Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame ; 
Which into hollow engines long and round 
Thick-rammed, at the other bore with touch of fire 
Dilated and infuriate, shall send forth 
From far, with thundering noise, among our foes, 
Such implements of mischief, as shall dash 
To pieces, and o'erwhelm whatever stands 
Adverse, that they shall fear we have disarmed 
The Thunderer of his only dreaded bolt. 
Nor long shall be our labour ; yet, ere dawn, 
Effect shall end our wish. Meanwhile revive ; 
Abandon fear ; to strength and counsel joined 
Think nothing hard, much less to be despaired.' 

" He ended, and his words their drooping cheer 
Enlightened, and their languished hope revived. 
The invention all admired, and each, how he 



PARADISE LOST. 147 

To be the inventor missed ; so easy it seemed 

Once found, which yet unfound most would have thought 

Impossible : yet haply of thy race 

In future days, if malice should abound, 

Some one intent on mischief, or inspired 

With devilish machination, might devise 

Like instrument to plague the sons of men 

For sin, on war and mutual slaughter bent. 

Forthwith from council to the work they flew ; 

None arguing stood ; innumerable hands 

Were ready ; in a moment up they turned 

Wide the celestial soil, and saw beneath 

The originals of nature in their crude 

Conception ; sulphurous and nitrous foam 

They found, they mingled, and, with subtle art 

Concocted and adjusted, they reduced 

To blackest grain, and into store conveyed : 

Part hidden veins digged up (nor hath this earth 

Entrails unlike) of mineral and stone, 

Whereof to found their engines and their balls 

Of missive ruin ; part incentive reed 

Provide, pernicious with one touch to fire. 

So all ere day-spring, under conscious night, 

Secret they finished, and in order set, 

With silent circumspection, unespied. 

" Now when fair morn orient in Heaven appeared, 
Up rose the victor angels, and to arms 
The matin trumped sung : in arms they stood 
Of golden panoply, refulgent host, 
Soon banded ; others from the dawning hills 
Looked round, and scouts each coast light-arm^d scoar| 
Each quarter, to descry the distant foe. 
Where lodged, or whither fled, or if for fight, 
In motion or in halt : him soon they meet 
Under spread ensigns moving nigh, in slow 
But firm battalion ; back with speediest sail 
Zophiel, of cherubim the swiftest wing. 
Come flying, and in mid air aloud thus cried : 

" ' Arm, warriors, arm for fight ! the foe at hand, 
Whom fled we thought, will save us long pursuit 



148 PARADISE LOST. 

This day ; fear not bis flight ; so thick a cloud 
He comes, and settled in his face I see 
Sad resolution and secure : let each 
His adamantine coat gird well, and each 
Fit well his helm, gripe fast his orbed shield, 
Borne even or high ; for this day will pour down, 
If I conjecture aught, no drizzling shower. 
But rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire ' 

" So wai-ned he them, aware themselves, and soon 
In order, quit of all impediment. 
Instant without disturb they took alarm. 
And onward moved embattled : when, behold. 
Not distant far, with heavy pace, the foe 
Approaching gross and huge, in hollow cube 
Training his devilish enginery, impaled 
On every side with shadowing squadrons deep. 
To hide the fraud. At interview both stood 
Awhile ; but suddenly at head appeared 
Satan, and thus was heard commanding loud: 

" ' Vanguard, to right and left the front unfold ; 
That all may see who hate us, how we seek 
Peace and composure, and with open breast 
Stand ready to receive them, if they like 
Our overture, and turn not back perverse ; 
But that I doubt ; however, witness Heaven, 
Heaven witness thou anon, while we discharge 
Freely out part ; ye who ajipointed stand, 
T)o as you have in charge, and briefly touch 
What we propound, and loud, that all may hear.* 

" So scofiing, in ambiguous words, he scarce 
Had ended, when to right and left the front 
Divided, and to either flank retired : 
Which to our eyes discovered, new and strange, 
A triple mounted row of pillars laid 
On wheels (for like to pillars most they seemed. 
Or hollowed bodies made of oak or fir. 
With branches lopped, in wood or mountain felled) 
Brass, iron, stony mould, had not their mouths 
With hideous orifice gaped on us wide. 
Portending hoUow truce ; at each behind 



PARADISE LOST. 149 

A seraph stood, and in his hand a reed 

Stood waving, tipped with fire ; while we, suspense, 

Collected stood within our thoughts amused, 

Not long ; for sudden all at once their reeds 

Put forth, and to a narrow vent applied 

With nicest touch. Immediate in a flame, 

But soon obscured with smoke, all Heaven appeared, 

From those deep-throated engines belched, whose roar 

Embowelled with outrageous noise the air, 

And all her entrails tore, disgorging foul 

Their devilish glut, chained thunderbolts and hail 

Of iron globes ; which, on the victor host 

Levelled, with such impetuous fury smote. 

That whom they hit, none on their feet might stand. 

Though standing else as rocks, but down they fell 

By thousands, angel on archangel rolled, 

The sooner for their arms : unarmed they might 

Have easily, as spirits, evaded swift 

By quick contration or remove ; but now 

Foul dissipation followed, and forced rout ; 

Nor served it to relax their serried files. 

What should they do ? if on they rushed, repulse 

Repeated, and indecent overthrow 

Doubled, would render them yet more despised. 

And to their foes a laughter ; for in view 

Stood ranked of seraphim another row. 

In posture to displode their second tire 

Of thunder : back defeated to return 

They worse abhorred. Satan beheld their plight, 

And to his mates thus in derision called : 

" O friends, why come not on these victors proud? 
Erewhile they fierce were coming ; and when we, 
To entertain them fair with open front 
And breast (what could we more ?) propounded terms 
Of composition, straight they changed their minds, 
Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell, 
As they would dance ; yet for a dance they seemed 
Somewhat extravagant and wild, perhaps 
For joy of offered peace : but I suppose, 
If our proposals once again were heard, 



150 PARADISE LOST, 

We should compel them to a quick result.' 

" To whom thus Belial, in like gamesome mood : 
' Leader, the terms we sent were terms of weight, 
Of hard contents, and full of force urged home, 
Such as we might perceive amused them all, 
And stumbled many ; who receives them right, 
Had need from head to foot well understand ; 
Not understood, this gift they have besides. 
They show us when our foes walk not upright.' 
" So they among themselves, in pleasant vein. 
Stood scoffing, heightened in their thoiights beyond 
All doubt of victory ; eternal might 
To match with their inventions they presumed 
So easy, and of his thunder made a scorn. 
And all his host derided, while they stood 
Awhile in trouble : but they stood not long ; 
Rage prompted them at length, and found them arma 
Against such hellish mischief fit to oppose. 
Forthwith (behold the excellence, the power, 
Which God hath in his mighty angels placed) 
Their arms away they threw, and to the hills 
(For earth hath this variety from Heaven 
Of pleasure situate in hill and dale) 
Light as the lighting glimpse they ran, they flew ; 
From their foundations lossening to and fro 
They plucked the seated hills with all their load, 
Rocks, waters, woods, and by the shaggy tops 
Uplifting bore them in their hands : amaze, 
Be sure, and terror, seized the rebel host, 
When coming towards them so dread they saw 
The bottom of the mountains upward turned ; 
Till on those cursed engines, tri])le row 
They saw them whelmed, and all their confidence 
; Under the weight of mountains buried deep ; 
Themselves invaded next, and on their heads 
Main promontories flung, which in the air 
Came shadowing, and oppressed whole legions armed ; 
Their armour helped their harm, crushed in and bruised 
Into their substance pent, which wrought them pain 
Implacable, and many a dolorous groan, 



PARADISE LOST. 151 

Long struggling underneath, ere they could wind 
Out of such ])rison, though spirits of purest light, 
Purest at first, now gross by sinning grown. 
The rest in imitation to like arms 
Betook them, and the neighboring hills uptore; 
So hills amid the air encountered hills 
Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire, 
That under ground they fought in dismal shade ; 
Infernal noise ! war seemed a civil game 
To this uproar ; horrid confusion heai^ed 
Upon confusion rose : and now^ all Heaven 
Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspread, 
Had not the Almighty Father, where he sits 
Shrined in his sanctuary of Heaven secure, 
Consulting on the sura of things, foreseen 
This tumult, and permitted all, advised : 
That his great purpose he might so fulfil, 
To honor his anointed Son avenged 
Upon his enemies, and to declare 
All power on him transferred : whence to his son, 
The assessor of his throne, he thus began : 
" ' Effulgence of my glory. Son beloved. 
Son in whose face invisible is beheld 
Visibly, what by deity I am, 
And in whose hand what by decree I do, 
Second Omnipotence ! two days are past, 
Two days, as we compute the days of Heaven, 
Since Michael and his powers went forth to tame 
These disobedient ; sore hath been their fight, 
As likeliest was, when two such foes met armed ; 
For to themselves I left them ; and thou knowest 
Equal in their creation they were formed, 
Save what sin hath impaired, which yet hath wrought 
Insensibly, for I suspend their doom ; 
Whence in prepetual fight they needs must last 
Endless, and no solution will be found : 
War wearied hath performed what war can do, 
And to disordered rage let lose the reins. 
With mountains as with weapons armed, which makes 
Wild work in Heaven, and danarerous to the main. 



152 PARADISE LOST. 

Two days are therefore past, the third is thine ; 
For thee I have ordained it, and thus far 
Have suffered, that the glory may be thine 
Of ending this great war, since none but thou 
Can end it. Into thee such virtue and grace 
Immense I have transfused, that all may know 
In Heaven and Hell thy power above compare ; 
And, this perverse commotion governed thus, 
To manifest the worthiest to be Heir 
Of all things, to be Heir and to be King 
By sacred unction, thy deserved right. 
Go then, thou mightiest in thyFather's might, 
Ascend my chariot, guide the rapid wheels 
That shake Heaven's basis, bring forth all my war, 
My bow and thunder, my almighty arms 
Gird on, and sword upon thy puissant thigh ; 
Pursue these sons of darkness, drive them out 
From all Heaven's bounds into the utter deep; 
There let them learn, as likes them, to despise 
God and Messiah his anointed King.' 

" He said, and on his Son with rays direct 
Shone full ; he all his Father full expressed 
Ineffably into his face received ; 
And thus the filial Godhead answering spake : 

"'O Father, O supreme of heavenly thrones, 
First, highest, holiest, best ! thou always seek'st 
To glorify thy Son, I always thee. 
As is most just ; this I my glory account. 
My exaltation, and my whole delight. 
That thou in me, well ))leased, declar'st thy will 
Fulfilled, which to fulfil is all my bliss. 
Sceptre and power, thy giving, I assume 
And gladlier shall resign, when in the end 
Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee 
For ever, and in me all whom thou lov'st : 
But whom thou hat'st, I hate, and can put on 
Thy terrors, as I put thy mildness on. 
Image of thee in all things, and shall soon, 
Armed with thy might, rid Heaven of these rebelled, 
To their prepared ill mansion driven down, 



PABADISB LOST. 153 

To chains of darkness, and the undying worm, 

That from thy just obedience could revolt, 

Whom to obey is happiness entire. 

Then shall thy saints unmixed, and from the impure 

Far separate, circling thy holy mount, 

Unfeigned hallelujahs to thee sing. 

Hymns of high praise, and I among them chief.' 

" So said, he, o'er his sceptre bowing, rose 
From the right hand of glory where he sat ; 
And the third sacred morn began to shine, [sound 

Dawning through Heaven : forth rushed with whirlwind 
The chariot of paternal Deity, 

Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn, 
Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyed 
By four cherubic shapes ; four faces each 
Had wondrous ; as with stars their bodies all 
And wings were set with eyes, with eyes the wheels 
Of beryl, and careering fires between ; 
Over their lieads a crystal firmament, 
Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure 
Amber, and colors of the showery ai"ch. 
He, in celestial panoply all armed 
Of radiant Urim, work divinely wrought. 
Ascended ; at his right hand victory 
Sat eagle-winged ; beside him hung his bow 
And quiver with three-bolted thunder stored, 
And from about him fierce effusion rolled 
Of smoke, and bickering flame, and sparkles dire 
Attended with ten thousand thousand saints, 
He onward came ; far off his coming shone ; 
And twenty thousand (I their number heard) 
Chariots of God, half on each hand, were seen : 
He on the wings of cherub rode sublime 
On the crystalline sky, in sapphire throned. 
Illustrious far and wide, but by his own 
First seen ; them unexpected joy surprised. 
When the great ensign of Messiah blazed 
Aloft by angels borne, his sign in Heaven ; 
Under whose conduct Michael soon reduced 
His army, circumfused on either wing, 



154 PARADISE LOST. 

Under their Head embodied all in one. 

Before him power divine his way prejDared ; 

At his command the uprooted hills retired 

Each to his place ; they heard his voice, and went 

Obsequious ; Heaven his wonted face renewed, 

And with fresh flowerets hill and valley smiled. 

This saw his hapless foes, but stood obdured, 

And to rebellious fight rallied their powers 

Insensate, hope conceiving from despair. 

In heavenly spirits could such perverseness dwell? 

But to convince the proud what signs avail, 

Or wonders move the obdurate to relent ? 

They, hardened more by what might most reclaim, 

Grieving to see his glory, at the sight 

Took envy ; and, aspiring to his height. 

Stood re-embattled fierce, by force or fraud 

Weening to prosper, and at length prevail 

Against God and Messiah, or to fall 

In universal ruin last ; and now 

To final battle drew, disdaining flight, 

Or faint retreat ; when the great Son of God 

To all his host on either hand thus spake : 

" ' Stand still in bright array, ye saints ; here stand, 
Ye angels armed ; this day from battle rest. 
Faithful hath been your warfare, and of God 
Accepted, fearless in his righteous cause ; 
And as ye have received, so have ye done 
Invincibly : but of this cursed crew 
The punishment to other hand belongs ; 
Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints : 
Number to this day's work is not ordained, 
Nor multitude ; stand only and behold 
God's indignation on these godless poured 
By me ; not you, but me, they have despised, 
Yet envied ; against me is all their rage. 
Because the Father, to whom in Heaven supreme 
Kingdom, and power, and glory, appertains, 
Hath honored me according to his will. 
Therefore to me their doom he hath assigned, 
That they may have their wish, to try with me 



PARADISE LOST. 155 

In battle which the strongest proves, they all, 
Or 1 alone against them, since by strength 
They measure all, of other excellence 
Not emulous, nor care who them excels ; 
Nor other strife with them do I vouchsafe.' 

" So spake the Son, and into terror changed 
His countenance too severe to be beheld, 
And full of wrath bent on his enemies. 
At once the four spread out their starry wings 
With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs 
Of his fierce chariot rolled, as with the sound 
Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host. 
He on his impious foes right onward drove, 
Gloomy as night ; under his burning wheels 
The stedfast empyrean shook throughout. 
All but the throne itself of God. Full soon 
Among them he arrived, in his right hand 
Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent 
Before him, such as in their souls infixed 
Plagues ; they, astonished, all resistance lost. 
All courage ; down their idle weapons dropped ; 
O'er shields, and helms, and helmed heads, he rode 
Of thrones and mighty seraphim prostrate, 
That wished the mountains now might be again 
Thrown on thom as a shelter from his ire. 
Nor less on either side tempestuous fell 
His arrows, from the fourfold-visaged four 
Distinct with eyes, and from the living wheels 
Distinct alike with multitude of eyes ; 
One spirit in them ruled, and every eye 
Glared lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire 
Among the accursed, that withered all their strengthi 
And of their wonted vigor left them drained, 
Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fallen. 
Yet half his strength he put not forth, but checked 
His thunder in mid volley ; for he meant 
Not to destroy, but root them out of Heaven : 
The overthrown he raised, and, as a herd 
Of goats or timorous flock together thronged. 
Drove them before him thunderstruck, pursued 



156 PARADISE LOST. 

With terrors and with furies to the bonnds 
And crystal wall of Heaven ; which, opening wide, 
Rolled inward, and a spacious gap disclosed 
Into the wasteful deep ; the monstrous sight 
Struck them with horror backward, but far worse 
Urged them behind ; headlong themselves they threw 
Down from the verge of Heaven ; eternal wrath 
Burnt after them to the bottomless pit. 

" Hell heard the unsufferable noise ; Hell saw 
Heaven ruining from Heaven, and would have fled 
Affrighted ; but strict fate had cast too deep 
Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound. 
Nine days they fell ; confounded Chaos roared, 
And felt tenfold confusion in their fall 
Through his wild anarchy, so huge a rout 
Encumbered him with ruin : Hell at last 
Yawning received them whole, and on them closed ; 
Hell, their fit habitation, fraught with fire 
Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain. 
Disburdened Heaven rejoiced, and soon repaired 
Her mural breach, returning whence it rolled. 
Sole victor, from the expulsion of his foes, 
Messiah his triumphal chariot turned : 
To meet hira all his saints, who silent stood 
Eye-witnesses of his almighty acts, 
With jubilee advanced ; and as they went, 
Shaded with branching palm, each order bright 
Sung triumph, and him sung victorious King, 
Son, Heir, and Lord to him dominion given, 
Worthiest to reign : he celebrated rode 
Triumphant through mid Heaven, into the courts 
And temple of his mighty Father throned 
On high ; who into glory him received, 
Where now he sits at the right hand of bliss. 

" Thus measuring things in Heaven by things on earth, 
At thy request, and that thou mayst beware 
By what is past, to thee I have revealed 
What might have else to human race been hid ; 
The discord which befell, and war in Heaven 
Among the angelic powers, and the deep fall 



PARADISE LOST. 167 

Of those too high aspiring, who rebelled 
With Satan ; he who envies now thy state, 
Who now is plotting how he may seduce 
Thee also from obedience, that with him 
Bereaved of happiness thou mayst partake 
His punishment, eternal misery ; 
Which would be all his solace and revenge, 
As a despite done against the most High, 
Thee once to gain companion of his woe. 
But listen not to his temptations ; warn 
Thy weaker ; let it profit thee to have heard 
By terrible example the reward 
Of disobedience ; firm they might have stood. 
Yet fell ; remember, and fear to transgreu.** 



158 FAKAOISE LOST. 



BOOK VII. 



THE AKGUMEXT. 



Raphael, at the request of Adam, relates how and whereiore this world 
was first created ; that God, after the expelling of Satan and his angels 
out of Heaven, declared his pleasure to create another world, and other 
creatures to dwell therein ; sends his Son with glory and attendance of 
angels to perform the work of creation in six daj's ; the angels celebrate 
with hymus the performance thereof, and his reasceusion into Heaven. 

Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name 
If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine 
Following, above the Olympian hill I soar, 
Above the flight of Pegasean wing. 
The meaning, not the name, I call ; for thou 
Nor of the Muses nine, nor on the top 
Of old Olympus dwell'st ; but, heavenly born, 
Before the hills appeared, or fountain flowed, 
riiou with eternal Wisdom didst converse, 
Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play 
In ])resence of the almighty Father, pleased 
With thy celestial song. Up led by thee 
Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed, 
An earthly giaest, and drawn empyreal air, 
Thy tempering : with like safety guided down, 
Return me to ray native element ; 
Lest from this flying steed unreined (as once 
Bellerophon, though from a lower clime) 
Dismounted, on the Aleian field I fall. 
Erroneous there to wonder, and forlorn. 
Half yet remains unsung, but narrower bound 
Witliin the visible diurnal sphere ; 
Standing on earth, not rapt above the pole, 
More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchanged 
To hoarse or mute, though fallen on evil days. 



PAEADISK LOST. 



159 



On evil days though fallen, and evil tongues ; 
In darkness, and with dangers compassed round. 
And solitude ; yet not alone, while thou 
Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn 
Pur})les the east : still govern thou my song, 
Urania, and fit audience find, though few. 
But drive far off the barbarous dissonance 
Of Bacchus and his revellers, the race 
Of that wild rout that tore the Thracian bard 
In Rhodope, where woods and rocks had ears 
To rapture, till the savage clamour drowned 
Both harp and voice ; nor could the Muse defend 
Her son. So fail not thou, who thee implores : 
For thou art heavenly, she an empty dream. 
Say, goddess, what ensued when Raphael, 
The affable archangel, had forewarned 
Adam by dire example to beware 
Apostacy, by what befell in Heaven 
To those apostates, lest the like befall 
In Paradise to Adam or his race, 
Charged not to touch the interdicted tree, 
If they transgress, and slight that sole command, 
So easily obeyed amid the choice 
Of all the taste else to please their appetite, 
Though wandering. He, with his consorted Eve, 
The story heard attentive, and was filled 
With admiration and deep muse, to hear 
Of things so high and strange, things to their thought 
So unimaginable as hate in Heaven, 
And war so near the peace of God in bliss, 
With such confusion ; but the evil, soon 
Driven back, rebounded as a flood on those 
From whom it sprung, impossible to mix 
With blessedness. Whence Adam soon repealed 
The doubts that in his heart arose : and now 
Led on, yet sinless, with desire to know 
What nearer might concern him ; how this world 
Of Heaven and earth conspicuous first began ; 
When, and whereof created ; for what cause ; 
What within Eden, or without, was done 



160 PABADISK LOST. 

Before his memory ; as one whose drouth 
Yet scarce allayed, still eyes the current stream, 
Whose liquid murmur heard, new thirst excites, 
Proceeded thus to ask his heavenly guest : 

" Great things, and full of wonder in our ears, 
Far differing from this world, thou hast revealed, 
Divine interpreter, by favour sent 
Down from the empyrean to forewarn 
Us timely of what might else have been our loss, 
Unknown, which human knowledge could not reach : 
For which to the infinitely Good we owe 
Immortal thanks, and his admonishment 
Receive with solemn purpose to observe 
Immutably his sovereign will, the end 
Of what we are. But since thou hast vouchsafed 
Gently for our instruction to impart 
Things above earthly thought, which yet concerned 
Our knowing, as to highest wisdom seemed, 
Deign to descend now lower, and relate 
What may no less, perhaps, avail us known, 
How first began this Heaven which we behold 
Distant so high, with moving fires adorned 
Innumerable, and this which yields or fills 
All space, the ambient air wide interfused, 
Embracing round this florid earth ; what cause 
Moved the Creator, in his holy rest 
Through all eternity, so late to build 
In Chaos ; and, the work begun, how soon 
Absolved ; if unforbid thou mayst unfold 
What we, not to explore the secrets ask 
Of his eternal empire, but the more 
To magnify his works, the more we know. 
And the great light of day yet wants to run 
Much of his race though steep ; suspense in Heav^ 
Held by thy voice, thy potent voice, he hears, 
And longer will delay to hear thee tell 
His generation, and the rising birth 
Of nature from the unapparent deep : 
Or if the star of evening and the moon 
Haste to thy audience, night with her will bring 



PAEADISB LOST. 161 

Silence, and sleep listening to thee will watch, 
Or we can bid his absence, till thy song 
End, and dismiss thee ere the morning shine." 
Thus Adam his illustrious guest besought; 
And thug the godlike angel answered mild : 
" This also thy request, with caution asked, 
Obtain : though to recount almighty works 
What words or tongue of seraph can suffice, 
Or heart of man suffice to comprehend ? 
Yet what thou canst attain, which best may serve 
To glorify the Maker, and infer 
Thee also happier, shall not be withheld 
Thy hearing: such commission from above 
I have received, to answer thy desire 
Of knowledge within bounds ; beyond, abstain 
To ask, nor let thine own inventions hope 
Things not rcA^ealed, which the invisible King, 
Only omniscient, hath suppressed in night, 
To none communicable in earth or Heaven : 
Enough is left besides to search and know. 
But knowledge is as food, and needs no less 
Her temperance over appetite, to know 
In measure what the mind may well contain ; 
Oppresses else with surfeit, and soon turns 
Wisdom to folly, as nourishment to wind. 

" Know, then, that after Lucifer from Heaven 
(So call him, brighter once amidst the host 
Of angels, than that star the stars among) 
Fell with his flaming legions through the deep 
Into his place, and the great Son returned 
Victorious with his saints, the omnipotent 
Eternal Father from his throne beheld 
Their multitude, and to his Son thus spake : 

" ' At least our envious foe hath failed, who thought 
All like himself rebellious, by whose aid 
This inaccessible high strength, the seat 
Of Deity supreme, us dispossessed, 
He trusted to have seized, and into fraud 
Drew many, whom their place knows here no more ; 
Yet far the greater part have kept, I see, 

11 



162 PARADISE LOST. 

Their station ; Heaven yet populous retains 

Number sufficient to possess her realms 

Though wide, and this high temple to frequent 

"With ministries due and solemn rites : 

But lest his heart exalt him in the harm 

Already done, to have dispeopled Heaven, 

My damage fondly deemed, I can repair 

That deti'iment, if such it be to lose 

Self-lost, and in a moment will create 

Another world, out of one man a race 

Of innumerable, there to dwell, 

Not here, till by degrees of merit raised 

They open to themselves at length the way 

Up hither, under long obedience tried. 

And earth be changed to Heaven, and Heaven to earth, 

One kingdom, joy and union without end. 

Meanwhile inhabit lax, ye powers of Heaven ; 

And thou my Word, begotten Son, by thee 

This I perform ; speak thou, and be it done : 

My overshadowing Spirit and might with thee 

I send along ; ride forth, and bid the deep 

Within appointed bounds be Heaven and earth ; 

Boundless the deep, because I am who fill 

Infinitude, nor vacuous the space. 

Though I, uncircumscribed myself, retire. 

And put not forth my goodness, which is free 

To act or not, necessity and chance 

Approach not me, and what I will is fate.' 

" So spake the Almighty, and to what he spake 
His Word, the filial Godhead, gave effect. 
Immediate are the acts of God, more swift 
Than time or motion, but to human ears 
Cannot without process of speech be told, 
So told as earthly notion can receive. 
Great triumph and rejoicing was in Heaven, 
When such was heard declared the Almighty's will ; 
Glory they sung to the most High, good will 
To future men, and in their dwellings peace ; 
Glory to him, whose just avenging ire 
Had driven out thy ungodly from his sight, 



PARADISE LOST. 163 

And the habitations of the just ; to him 
Glory and praise, whose wisdom had ordained 
Good out of evil to create, instead 
Of spirits malign a better race to bring 
Into their vacant room, and thence diffuse 
His good to worlds and ages infinite. 

" So sang the liierarchies : meanwhile the Son 
On his great expedition now appeared, 
Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned 
Of majesty divine ; sapience and love 
Immense, and all his Father in him shone. 
About his chariot numberless were poured 
Cherub and seraph, potentates and thrones. 
And virtues, winged spirits, and chariots winged 
From the armoury of God, whei*e stand of old 
Myriads between two brazen mountains lodg ed 
Against a solemn day, harnessed at hand, 
Celestial equipage ; and now came forth 
Spontaneous, for within them spirit lived, 
Attendant on their Lord ; Heaven opened wide 
Her erer-during gates, harmonious sound 
On golden hinges moving, to let forth 
The King of Glory, in his powerful Word 
And Spirit coming to create new worlds. 
On heavenly ground they stood, and from the shore 
They viewed the vast immeasurable abyss 
Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild. 
Up from the bottom turned by furious winds 
And surgiiig waves, as mountains, to assault 
Heaven's height, and with the centre mix the pole. 

" ' Silence, ye troubled waves ! and thou deep, peace I 
Said then the omnific Word : ' your discord end I' 
Nor stayed, but on the wings of cherubim 
Uplifted, in paternal glory rode 
Far into Chaos, and the world unborn ; 
For Chaos heard his voice : him all his train 
Followed in bright procession, to behold 
Creation, and the Avonders of his might. 
Then stayed the fervid wheels, and in his hand 
He took the golden compasses, prepared 



164 PABADISB LOST. 

In God's eternal store, to cirumscribe 
This universe, and all created things : 
One foot he oontered, and the other turned 
Round througli the vast prot'o nudity obscure, 
And said : ' Tims far extend, thus far thy bounds, 
This be thy just circumference, O world.' 
Thus God the Heaven created, thus the earth, 
Matter unformed and void: darkness profound 
Covered the abyss ; but on the watery calm 
His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread, 
And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth 
Throughout the fluid mass, but downward purged 
The black taitarous cold infernal dregs, 
Adverse to life : then founded, then conglobed 
Like things to like, to several place 
Disparted, and between spun out the air, 
And earth self-balanced on her centre hung. 

" ' Let there be light ! ' said God, and forthwith light 
Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure. 
Sprung from the deep, and from her native east 
To journey through ine airy gloom began. 
Sphered in a radiant cloud, for yet the sun 
Was not ; she in a cloudy tabernacle 
Sojourned the while, God saw the light was good ; 
And light from darkness by the hemisphere 
Divided : light the day, and darkness night 
He named. Thus was the first day even and mom : 
Nor passed uncelebrated, nor unsung 
My the celestial quires, when orient light 
Exhaling first from darkness they beheld ; 
Sirth-day of Pleaven and earth; with joy and shout 
The hollow universal orb they filled, 
And touched their golden harps, and hymning praised 
God and his works ; Creator him they sung. 
Both when first evening was, and when first mom. 

" Again, God said, ' Let there be firmament 
Amid the waters, and let it divide 
The waters from the waters !' and God made 
The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure, 
Transparent, elemental air, diffused 



PARADISE LOST. 160 

f n circuit to the uttermost convex 
Of this great round ; partition firm and sure, 
The waters underneath from those above 
Dividing : for as earth, so he the world 
Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide 
Crystalline ocean : and the loud misrule 
Of Chaos far removed, lest fierce extremes 
Contiguous might distemper the whole frame : 
And HeaA'en he named the firmament : so even 
And morning chorus sung the second day. 

" The earth was formed, but in the womb as yet 
Of waters, embryon immature involved. 
Appeared not : over all the face of earth 
Main ocean flowed, not idle, but, with warm 
Prolific humor softening all her globe, 
Fermented the great mother to conceive, 
Satiate with genial moisture, when God said, 
' Be gathered now, ye waters under Heaven, 
Into one place, and let dry land appear ! ' 
Immediately the mountains huge appear 
Emergent, and their broad bare backs upheave 
Into the clouds ; their tops ascend the sky : 
So high as heaved the tumid hills, so low 
Down sunk a hollow bottom broad and deep, 
Capacious bed of waters : thither they 
Hasted with glad precipitance, uprolled 
As drops on dust conglobing from the dry ; 
Part rise in crystal wall, or ridge direct, 
For haste ; such flight the great command impressed 
On the swift floods ; as armies at the call 
Of trumpet (for of armies thou hast heard) 
Troop to their standard, so the watery throng, 
Wave rolling after wave, where way they found, 
If steep, with torrent rapture ; if through plain, 
Soft ebbing ; nor withstood them rock or hill, 
But they, or under ground, or circuit wide 
With serpent error wandering, found their way, 
And on the washy ooze deep channels wore ; 
Easy, ere God had bid the ground be dry, 
All but within those banks, where rivers now 



166 PARADISE LOST. 

Stream, and perpetual draw their humid train. 

The dry land, earth, and the great receptacle 

Of congregated waters he called seas : 

And saw that it was good, and said, ' Let the earth 

Put forth the verdant grass, herb yielding seed, 

And fruit-tree yielding fruit after her kind, 

Whooe seed is in herself upon the earth ! ' 

He scarce had said, when the bare earth, till then 

Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorned, 

Brought forth the tender grass, whese verdure clad 

Her universal face with pleasant green ; 

Then herbs of every leaf, that sudden flowered 

Opening their various colors, and made gay 

Her bosom, smelling sweet : and, these scarce blown, 

Forth flourished thick the clustering vine, forth crept 

The smelling gourd, up stood the corny reed 

Embattled in her field ; and the humble shrub, 

And bush with frizzled hair implicit ; last 

Rose as in dance the stately trees, and spread 

Their branches hung with copious fruit, or gemmed 

Their blossoms ; with high woods the hills were crowned, 

With tufts the valleys and each fountain side. 

With borders long the rivers ; that earth now 

Seemed like to Heaven, a seat where gods might dwell, 

Or wander with delight, and love to haunt 

ETer sacred shades : though God had yet not rained 

Upon the earth, and man to till the ground 

None was, but from the earth a dewy mist 

Went up and watered all the ground, and each 

Plant of the field, whicli, ere it was in the earth 

God made, and every herb, before it grew 

On the green stem ; God saw that it was good : 

So even and morn recorded the third day. 

" Again the Almighty spake : ' Let there be lights 
High in the expanse of Heaven, to divide 
The day from night ; and let them be for signs, 
For seasons, and for days, and circling years j 
And let them be for lights, as I ordain 
Their oflSce in the firmament of Heaven 
To give light on the earth ! ' and it was so. 



PARADISE LOST. 167 

And God made two great lights, great for their use 

To man, the greater to have rule by day, 

The less by night altern ; and made the stars, 

And set tht-m in the firmament of Heaven 

To illuminate the earth, and rule the day 

In their vicissitude, and rule the night, 

And light from darkness to divide. God saw, 

Surveying his great work, that it was good : 

For of celestial bodies first the sun 

A mighty sphere he framed, unlightsorae first, 

Though of ethereal mould : then formed the moon 

Globose, and every magnitude of stars, 

And sowed with stars the Heaven thick as a field : 

Of light by far the greater part he took, 

Transplanted from her cloudy shrine, and placed 

In the sun's orb, made porous to receive 

And drink the liquid light, firm to retain 

Her gathered beams, great palace now of light. 

Hither, as to their fountain, other stars 

Repairing, in their golden urns draw light, 

And hence the morning planet gilds her horns ; 

By tincture of reflection they augment 

Their small peculiar, though from human sight 

So far remote, with diminution seen. 

First in his east the glorious lamp was seen, 

Regent of day, and all the horizon round 

Invested with bright rays, jocund to run 

His longitude through Heaven's high road ; the gray 

Dawn and the Pleiades before him danced, 

Shedding sweet influence : less bright the moon, 

But opposite in levelled west was set. 

His mirror, with full face borrowing her light 

From him, for other light she needed none 

In that aspect, and still that distance keeps 

Till night, then in the east her turn she shines. 

Revolved on Heaven's great axle, and her reign 

With thousand lesser lights dividual holds. 

With thousand thousand stars, that then appeared 

Spangling the hemisphere : then first adorned 

With their bright luminaries that set and rose, 



168 PARADISE LOST. 

Glad evening and glad morn crowned the fourth day. 

" And God said : ' Let the waters generate 
Reptile with spawn abundant, living soul : 
And let fowl fly above the earth, with wings 
Displayed on the open firmament of Heaven ! ' 
And God created the great whales, and each 
Soul living, each that crept, which plenteously 
The waters generated by their kinds. 
And every bird of wing after his kind ; 
And saw that it was good, and bless'd them, saying : 
* Be fruitful, multiply, and in the seas 
And lakes, and running streams, the waters fill ; 
And let the fowl be multiplied on the earth ! ' 
Forthwith the sounds and seas, each creek and bay, 
With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals 
Of fish that with their fins and shining scales 
Glide under the green wave, in sculls that oft 
Bank the mid sea ; part single, or with mate, 
Graze the sea-weed their pasture, and through groves 
Of coral spray, or sporting with quick glance 
Show to the sun their waved coats dropt with gold, 
Or, in their pearly shells at ease, attend 
Moist nutriment, or under rocks their food 
In jointed armour watch ; on smooth the seal 
And bended dolphins play : part huge of bulk 
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait, 
Tempest the ocean ; there leviathan, 
Hugest of living creatures, on the deep 
Stretched like a promontory, sleeps or swims, 
And seems a moving land, and at his gills 
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea. 
Meanwhile the tepid caves, and fens, and shores, 
Their brood as numerous hatch, from the egg that soon 
Bursting with kindly rupture forth disclosed 
Their callow young ; but feathered soon and fledge. 
They summed their pens, and, soaiing the air sublime, 
With clang despised the ground, under a cloud 
In prospect ; there the eagle and tlie stork 
On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build : 
Part loosely wing the region, part more wise 



PAEADISE LOST. 169 

In common, ranged in figure, wedge their way. 

Intelligent of seasons, and set forth 

Their airy caravan, high over seas 

Flying, and over lauds, with mutual wing 

Easing their flight; so steers tho prudent crane 

Her annual voyage, borne on winds ; the air 

Floats, as they pass, fanned with unnumbered plumes : 

From branch to branch the smaller birds with song 

Solaced the woods, and spi-ead their painted wings 

Till even, nor then the solemn nightingale 

Ceased warbling, but all night tuned her soft lays ; 

Others on silver lakes and rivers bathed 

Their downy breast ; the swan with arched neck 

Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows 

Her state with oary feet; yet oft they quit 

The dank, and, rising on stiff pennons, tower 

The mid aerial sky : others on ground 

Walked firm ; the crested cock, whose clarion sounds 

The silent hours, and the other whose gay train 

Adorns him, coloured with the florid hue 

Of rainbows and starry eyes. The waters thus 

With fish replenished, and the air with fowl, 

Evening and morn solemnized the fifth day. 

" The sixth, and of creation last, arose 
With evening harps and matin, when God said . 
' Let the earth bring forth soul living in her kind, 
Cattle, and creeping things, and beast of the earth, 
Each in their kind ! ' The earth obeyed, and straight 
Opening her fertile womb, teemed at a birth 
Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms. 
Limbed and full grown : out of the ground up rose, 
As from his lair, the wild beast, where he wons 
In forest wild, in tliicket, brake, or den ; 
Among the trees in pairs they rose, they walked : 
The cattle in the fields and meadows green : 
Those rare and solitary, these in flocks 
Pasturing at once, and in broad herds upsprung. 
The grassy clods now calved, now half appeared 
The tawny lion, pawing to get free 
His hinder parts, then springs as broke from bonds, 



170 PABADISB LOST. 

And rampart shakes his brinded main ; the ounce, 

The libbard, and the tiger, as the mole 

Rising, the crumbled earth above them threw 

In hillocks : the swift stag from underground 

Bore up his branching head : scarce from his mould 

Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved 

His vastness : fleeced the flocks and bleating rose, 

As plants : ambiguous between sea and land 

The river-horse and scaly crocodile. 

At once came forth whatever creeps the ground, 

Insect or worm : those waved their limber fane 

For wings, and smallest lineaments exact 

In all the liveries decked of summer's pride 

"With spots of gold and purple, azure and green ; 

These as a line their long dimension drew, 

Streaking the ground with sinuous trace ; not all 

Minims of nature : some of serpent kind, 

Wondrous in length and corpulence, involved 

Their snaky folds, and added wings. First crept 

The parsimonious emmet, provident 

Of future, in small room large heart enclosed ; 

Pattern of just equality perhaps 

Hereafter, joined in her popular tribes 

Of commonalty : swarming next appeared 

The female bee, that feeds her husband drone 

Deliciously, and builds her waxen cells 

"With honey stored : the rest are numberless. 

And thou their natures know'st, and gav'st them names, 

Needless to thee repeated ; nor unknown 

The serpent, subtlest beast of the field. 

Of huge extent sometimes, with brazen eyes 

And hairy mane terrific, though to thee 

Not noxious, but obedient at thy call. 

" Now Heaven in all her glory shone, and rolled 
Her motions, as the great first Mover's hand 
First wheeled their course ; earth in her rich attire 
Consummate lovely smiled ; air, water, earth, 
By fowl, fish, beast, was flown, was swum, was walked 
Frequent ; and of the sixth day yet remained : 
There wanted yet the master-work, the end 



PAEADISS LOST. 171 

Of all yet done ; a creature who, not prone 
And brute as other creatures, but endued 
With sanctity of reason, might erect 
His stature, and upright with front serene 
Govern the rest, self-knowing ; and from thence 
Magnanimous to correspond with Heaven, 
But grateful to acknowledge whence his good 
Descends ; thither with heart, and voice, and eyes 
Directed in devotion, to adore 
And worship God supreme, who made him chief 
Of all his works ; therefore the Omnipotent 
Eternal Father (for where is not he 
Present ?) thus to his Son audibly spake : 

" ' Let us make now man in our image, man 
In our similitude, and let them rule 
Over the fish and fowl of sea and air. 
Beast of the field, and over all the earth. 
And every creeping thing that creeps the ground. 
This said, he formed thee, Adam ; thee, O man, 
Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breathed 
The breath of life ; in his own image he 
Created thee, in the image of God 
Express, and thou becam'st a living soul. 
Male he created thee, but thy consort 
Female, for race ; then bless'd mankind, and said : 
' Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth ; 
Subdue it, and throughout dominion hold 
Over fish of the sea, and fowl of the air. 
And every living thing that moves on the earth.* 
Wherever thus created, for no place 
Is yet distinct by name, thence, as thou know'st, 
He brought thee into this delicious grove, 
This garden, planted with the trees of God 
Delectable both to behold and taste ; 
And freely all their pleasant fruit for food 
Gave thee ; all sorts are here that all the earth yields. 
Variety without end ; but of the tree 
Which, tasted, works knowledge of good and evil, 
Thou may St not ; in the day thou eat'st, thou diest: 
Death is the penalty imposed : beware, 



172 PAEADISB LOST. 

And govern well thy appetite ; lest Sin 
Sui-prise thee, and her black attendant Death. 
" Here finished he, and all that he had made 
Viewed, and behold all was entirely good ; 
So even and morn accomplished the sixth day : 
Yet not till the Creator, from his work 
Desisting, though unwearied, up returned. 
Up to the Heaven of Heavens, his high abode, 
Thence to behold this new-created world. 
The addition of his empire, how it showed 
In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair, 
Answering his great idea. Up he rode, 
Followed with acclamation, and the sound 
Symphonious of ten thousand harps that tuned 
Angelic harmonies : the earth, the air. 
Resounded (thou rememberest, for thou heard'st), 
The Heavens and all the constellations rung, 
The planets in their station listening stood, 
While the bright pomp ascended jubilant. 
' Open, ye everlasting gates ! ' they sung ; 
' Open, ye Heavens, your living doors ; let in 
The great Creator from his work returned 
Magnificent, his six days' work, a world ; 
Open, and henceforth oft ; for God will deign 
To visit oft the dwellings of just men 
Delighted, and with frequent intercourse 
Thither will s-^nd his winged messengers 
On errands of supernal grace.' So sung 
The glorious train ascending : He through Heaven, 
That opened wide her blazing portals, led 
To God's eternal house direct the way ; 
A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold, 
And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear, 
Seen in the galaxy, that milky way. 
Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest 
Powdered with stars. And now on earth the seventh 
Evening arose in Eden, for the sun 
Was set, and twilight from the east came on. 
Forerunning night ; when at the holy mount 
Of Hea\ en's high-seated top, the imperial throne 



PARADISE LOST. 173 

Ot Godhead, fixed for ever firm and sure, 

The Filial Power arrived, and sat him down 

With his great Father ; for he also went 

Invisible, yet stayed (such privilege 

Hath Omnipresence), and the work ordained, 

Author and end of all things, and from work 

Now resting, blessed and hallowed the seventh day, 

As resting on that day from all his work, 

But not in silence holy kept ; the harp 

Had work, and rested not ; the solemn pipe, 

And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop, 

All sounds on fret by string or golden wire, 

Tempered soft tunings, intermixed with voice 

Choral or unison ; of incense clouds, 

Fuming from golden censers, hid the mount. 

Creation and the six days' acts they sung : 

' Great are thy works, Jehovah ! infinite 

Thy power ! what thought can measure thee, or tongue 

Relate thee ? Greater now in thy return 

Than from the giant angels : thee that day 

Thy thunders magnified ; but to create 

Is greater than created to destroy. 

Who can impair thee, mighty King, or bound 

Thy empire ? Easily the proud attempt 

Of spirits apostate and their counsels vain 

Thou hast repelled, while impiously they thought 

Thee to diminish, and from thee withdraw 

The number of thy worshippers. Who seeks 

To lessen thee, against his purpose serves 

To manifest the more thy might : his evil 

Thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good. 

Witness this mew-made world, another Heaven 

From Heaven-gate not far, founded in view 

On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea ; 

Of amplitude almost immense, with stars 

Numerous, and every star perhaps a world 

Of destined habitation ; but thou know'st 

Their seasons : among these the seat of men, 

Earth, with her nether ocean circumfused, 

Their pleasant dwelling-place. Thrice happy men, 



174 PARADISE LOST. 

And sons of men, whom God hath thus advanced, 

Created in his image, there to dwell 

And worship him, and in reward to rule 

Over his works, on earth, in sea, or air, 

And multiply a race of worshippers 

Holy and just ; thrice happy if they know 

Their happiness, and persevere upright ! ' 

" So sung they, and the empyrean rung 
With hallelujahs : thus was sabbath kept. 
And thy request think now fulfilled, that asked 
How first this world and face of things began, 
And what before thy memory was done 
From the beginning, that posterity 
Informed by thee might know : if else thou seek'rt 
Aught, not surpassing human measure, say." 



PABADISK LOST. 175 



BOOK VIII. 



THE AEGTTMENT. 



AokJO. inquires concerning celestial motions, is doubtfully answered, 
and ex orted to search rather things more worthy of knowledge. Adam 
assents, and, still desirous to detain Raphael, relates to him what he re- 
membered since his own creation, his placing in Paradise, his talk with 
God concerning solitude and fit society, his first meeting and nuptials 
with Eve, his discourse with the angel thereupon, who, after admonitioug 
repeated, departs. 

Thk angel ended, and in Adam's ear 
So charming left his voice, that he a while 
Thought him still speaking, still stood fixed to hear , 
Then, as new waked, thus gratefully replied : 

" What thanks sufficient, or what recompense 
Equal have I to render thee, divine 
Historian, who thus largely hast allayed 
The thirst I had of knowledge, and vouchsafed 
This friendly condescension to relate 
Things else by me unsearchable, now heard 
With wonder, but delight, and, as is due, 
With glory attributed to the high 
Ci-eator ? Sozuething yet of doubt remains, 
Which only thy solution can resolve. 
When I behold this goodly frame, this world 
Of Heaven and earth consisting, and compute 
Their magnitudes, this earth a spot, a grain, 
An atom, with the firmament compared 
And all her numbered stars, that seem to roll 
Spaces incomprehensible (for such 
Their distance argues, and their swift return 
Diurnal), merely to ofllciate light 
Round this opacous earth, this punctual spot, 



176 PARADISE LOST. 

One day and night, in all their vast survey 

Useless besides ; reasoning I oft admire, 

How nature, wise and frugal, could commit 

Such disproportions, with superfluous hand 

So many nobler bodies to create, 

Greater so manifold, to this one use, 

For aught appears, and on their orbs impose 

Such restless revolution day by day 

Repeated ; while the sedentary earth. 

That better might with far less compass move, 

Served by more noble than herself, attains 

Her end without least motion, and receives, 

As tribute, such a sumless journey brought 

Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and li2;ht; 

Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails." 

So spake our sire, and by his countenance seemed 
Entering on studious thoughts abstruse, which Eve 
Perceiving, where she sat retired in sight. 
With lowliness majestic from her seat, 
And grace that won who saw to wish her stay. 
Rose, and went forth among her fruits and flowers, 
To visit how they prospered, bud and bloom. 
Her nursery ; they at her coming sprung, 
And, touched by her fair tendance, gladlier grew, 
Yet went she not, as not witli such discourse 
Delighted, or not capable her ear 
Of what was high ; such pleasure she reserved, 
Adam relating, she sole auditress : 
Her husband the relater she preferred 
B(!fore the angel, and of him to ask 
Chose rather : he, she knew, would intermix 
Grateful digressions, and solve high dispute 
With conjugal caresses ; from his lip 
Not words alone pleased her. Oh ! when meet new 
Such pairs, in love and mutual honour joined ? 
With goddess-like demeanour forth she went. 
Not unattended, for on her as queen 
A pomp of winning graces waited still, 
And from about her shot darts of desire 
Into all eyes to wish her still in sight. 



PARADISE LOST. 177 

And Raphael now, to Adam's doubt proposed, 
Benevolent and facile tlius replied : 

"To ask or search I blame thee not, for Heaven 
Is as the book of God before thee set. 
Wherein to read his wondrous works, and learn 
Ilis seasons, hours, or days, or months, or years : 
This to attain, whether Heaven move or earth 
Imports not, if thou reckon right ; the rest 
From man or angel the great Architect 
Did wisely to conceal, and not divulge 
His secrets to be scanned by them who ought 
Rather admire ; or if they list to try 
Conjecture, he his fabric of the Heavens 
HatL left to their disputes, perhaps to move 
His laughter at their quaint opinions wide 
Hereafter, when they come to model Heaven 
And calculate the stars, how they will wield 
The mighty frame ; how build, unbuild, contrive 
To save appearances ; how gird the sphere 
With centric and eccentric scribbled o'er, 
Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb : 
Already by thy reasoning this I guess, 
Who art to lead thy offspring, and supposest 
That bodies bright and greater should not serve 
The less not bright, nor Heaven such journeys run. 
Earth sitting still, when she alone receives 
The benefit. Consider first, that great 
Or bright infers not excellence : the earth 
Though, in comparison of Heaven, so small. 
Nor glistering, may of solid good contain 
More plenty than the sun that barren shines, 
Whose virtue on itself works no effeet, 
But in the fruitful earth ; there first received, 
His beams, unactive else, their vigour find. 
Yet not to earth are those bright luminaries 
Officious, but to thee, earth's habitant. 
And for the Heaven's wide circuit, let it speak 
The Maker's high magnificence, who built 
So spacious, and his line stretched out so far ; 
That man may know he dwells in his own ; 

12 



178 PAEAD18B LOST. 

An edifice too large for him to fill, 

Lodged in a small partition, and the rest 

Ordained for uses to his Lord best known. 

The swiftness of those circles attribute, 

Though numberless, to his omnipotence, 

That to corporeal substance could add 

Speed almost spiritual : me thou think'st not slow, 

Who since the morning hour set out from Ileav'n, 

Where God resides, and ere mid-day arrived 

In Eden, distance inexpressible 

By numbers that have name. But this I urge, 

Admitting motion in the Heavens, to show 

Invalid that which thee to doubt it moved ; 

Not that I so affirm, though so it seem 

To thee who hast thy dwelling here on earth. 

God, to remove his ways from human sense. 

Placed Heaven from earth so far, that earthly sight, 

If it presume, might err in things too high. 

And no advantage gain. What if the sun 

Be centre to the world, and other stars. 

By his attractive virtue and their own 

Incited, dance about him various rounds ? 

Their wandering course now high, now low, then hid, 

Progressive, retrograde, or standing still, 

In six thou seest; and what if seventh to these 

The planet earth, so steadfast though she seem. 

Insensibly three different motions move ? 

Which else to several spheres thou must ascribe. 

Moved contrary with thAvart obliquities. 

Or save the sun his labour, and that swift 

Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb supposed 

Invisible else, above all stars, the wheel 

Of day and night ; which needs not thy belief 

If earth industrious of herself fetch day 

Travelling east, and with her part averse 

From the sun's beam meet night, her other part 

Still luminous by his ray. What if that light, 

Sent from her through the wide transpicuous air. 

To the terrestrial moon be as a star 

Enlightening her by day, as she by night 



PABADI8K LOST. 179 

This earth? reciprocal, if land be then.-, 

Fields and inhabitants : her spots thou seest 

As clouds, and clouds may rain, and raiin produce 

Fruits in her softened soil, for some to eat 

Allotted there ; and other suns, perhaps, 

With their attendant moons thou wilt descry, 

Communicating male and female light, 

Which two great sexes animate the world. 

Stored in each orb, perhaps, with some that live. 

For such vast room in nature unpossessed 

By living soul, desert and desolate. 

Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute 

Each orb a glimpse of light, conveyed so far 

Down to this habitable, which returns 

Light back to them, is obvious to dispute. 

But whether thus these things, or whether not ; 

Whether the sun predominant in Heaven 

Rise on the earth, or earth rise on the sun ; 

He from the east his flaming road begin, 

Or she from west her silent course advance 

With inoffensive pace that spinning sleeps 

On her soft axle, while she paces even. 

And bears thee soft with the smooth air along ; 

Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid ; 

Leave them to God above, him serve and fear : 

Of other creatures, as him pleases best, 

WTierever placed, let him dispose : joy thou 

In what he gives to thee, this Paradise 

And thy fair Eve ; Heaven is for thee too lugh 

To know what passes there ; be lowly wise : 

Think only what concerns thee and thy being ; 

Dream not of other worlds, what creatures there 

Live, in what state, condition, or degree. 

Contented that thus far hath been revealed 

Not of earth only, but of highest Heaven. 

To whom thus Adam, cleared of doubt, replied : 
" How fully hast thou satisfied me, pure 
Intelligence of Heaven, angel serene ! 
And, freed from intricacies, taught to live 
The easiest way, nor with perplexing thoughts 



180 PAKADISE LOST. 

To interrupt the sweet of life, from which 

God hath bid dwell far off all anxious cares, 

And not molest u^ unless we ourselves 

Seek them with wandering thoughts, and notions vam, 

But apt the mind or fancy is to rove 

Unchecked, and of her roving is no end ; 

Till warned, or by experience taught, she learn, 

That not to know at large of things remote 

From use, obscure and subtle, but to know 

That which before us lies in daily life, 

Is the prime wisdom ; what is more, is fume 

Or emptiness, or fond impertinence. 

And renders us in things that most concern 

Unpractised, unprepared, and still to seek. 

Therefore from this high pitch let us descend 

A lower flight, and speak of things at hand 

Useful, whence haply mention may arise 

Of something not unseasonable to ask 

By sufferance, and thy wonted favour deigned. 

Thee I have heard relating what was done 

Ere my remembrance : now hear me relate 

My story, which perhaps thou hast not heard ; 

And day is yet not spent ; till then thou seest 

How subtly to detain thee I devise. 

Inviting thee to hear while I relate. 

Fond, were it not in hope of thy reply : 

For while I sit with thee, 1 seem in Heaven, 

And sweeter thy discourse is to my ear 

Than fruits of palm-tree pleasautest to thirst 

And hunger both, from labour, at the hour 

Of sweet repast : they satiate, and soon fill. 

Though pleasant ; but thy words, with grace divine 

Imbued, bring to their sweetness no satiety." 

To whom thus Raphael answered heavenly meek : 
*' Nor are thy lips ungraceful, sire of men, 
Kor tongue ineloquent ; for God on thee 
Abundantly his gifts hath also poured 
Inward and outward both, his image fair ; 
Speaking or mute all comeliness and grace 
Attends thee, and each word, each motion forms ; 



PARADISE LOST. 181 

Nor less think we in Heaven of thee on earth 

Than of our fellow-servant, and inquire 

Gladly into the ways of God with man : 

For God we see hath honoured thee, and set 

On man his equal love ; say therefore on, 

For I that day was absent, as befell. 

Bound on a voyage uncouth and obscure, 

Far on excursion toward tJie gates of Hell ; 

Squared in full legion (such command we had) 

To see that none thence issued forth a spy, 

Or enemy, while God was in his work ; 

Lest he, incensed at such eruption bold. 

Destruction with creation might have mixed. 

Not that they durst without his leave attempt, 

But us he sends upon his high behests 

For state, as sovran King, and to inure 

Our prompt obedience. Fast we found, fast shut 

The dismal gates, and barricadoed strong ; 

But long ere our approaching heard within 

Noise, other than the sound of dance or song, 

Torment, and loud lament, and furious rage. 

Glad we returned up to the coasts of light 

Ere sabbath evening : so we had in charge. 

But thy relation now ; for I attend. 

Pleased with thy words no less than thou with mine." 

So spake the godlike power, and thus our sire ; 
" For man to tell how human life began 
Is liard ; for who himself beginning knew ? 
Desire with thee still longer to converse 
Induced me. As new waked from soundest sleep, 
Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid 
In baraly sweat, which with his beams the sun 
Soon dried, and on the reeking moisture fed. 
Straight toward Heaven my wondering eyes I turned, 
And gazed a while the ample sky ; till, raised 
By quick instinctive motion, up I sprung. 
As thitherward endeavouring, and upright 
Stood on my feet ; about me round I saw 
Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains, 
And liquid lapse of murmuring streams ; by these 



182 PAEADISB LOST. 

Creatures that lived, and moved, and walked, or flew, 

Birds on the branches warbling ; all things smiled ; 

With fragrance and with joy my heart o'erflowed. 

Myself I then perused, and limb by limb 

Surveyed, and sometimes went, and sometimes ran 

With supple joints, as lively vigour led : 

But who I was, or where, or from what cause. 

Knew not ; to speak I tried, and forthwith spake ; 

My tongue obeyed, and readily could name 

Whate'er I saw. ' Thou sun,' said I, ' fair light, 

And thou enlightened earth, so fresh and gay, 

Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods, and plains. 

And ye that live and move, fair creatures, tell, 

Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here ? 

Not of myself ; by some great Maker, then, 

In goodness and in power pre-eminent ; 

Tell me, how may I know him, how adore, 

From whom I have that thus I move and live. 

And feel that I am happier than I know ? ' 

While thus I called, and strayed I knew not whither, 

From wliere I first drew air, and fii-st beheld 

This happy light, when answer none returned, 

On a green shady bank, profuse of flowers, 

Pensive I sat me down ; there gentle sleep 

First found me, and with soft oppression seized 

My drowsied sense, untroubled, though I thought 

I then was passing to my former state 

Insensible, and forthwith to dissolve : 

When suddenly stood at my head a dream, 

Whose inward apparition gently moved 

My fancy to belicA'e I yet had being, 

And lived : One came, methought, of shape divine, 

And said, ' Thy mansion wants thee, Adam ; rise, 

First man, of men innumerable ordained 

First father ! called by thee, I come thy guide 

To the garden of bliss, thy seat prepared.' 

So saying, by the hand he took me raised. 

And over fields and waters, as in air 

Smooth sliding without step, last led me up 

A woody mountain, whose high top was plain, 



PAEADISK LOST. 183 

A circuit wide, euclosed, with goodliest trees 
Planted, with walks, and bowers, that what I saw 
Of earth before scarce pleasant seemed. Each tree 
Loaden with fairest fruit, that hung to the eye 
Tempting, stirred in me sudden appetite 
To pluck and eat ; whereat I waked, and found 
Before mine eyes all real, as the dream 
Had lively shadowed : here had new begun 
My wandering, had not he who was my guide 
Up hither, from among the trees appeared, 
Presence divine. Rejoicing, but with awe, 
In adoration at his feet I fell 

Submiss: he reared me, and ' Whom thou sought'st I am, 
Said mildly, ' Author of all this thou seest 
Above, or round about thee, or beneath. 
This Paradise I give thee ; count it thine 
To till and keep, and of the fruit to eat : 
Of every tree that in the garden grows 
Eat freely with glad heart : fear here no dearth : 
But of the tree whose operation brings 
Knowledge of good and ill, which I have set 
The pledge of thy obediemce and thy faith, 
Amid the garden by the tree of life. 
Remember what I warn thee, shun to taste, 
And shun the bitter consequence ; for know, 
The day thou eat'st thereof, my sole command 
Transgressed, inevitably thou shalt die. 
From that day mortal; and this happy state 
Shalt lose, expelled from hence into a world 
Of woe and sorrow.' Sternly he pronounced 
The rigid interdiction, which resounds 
Yet dreadful in mine ear, though in my choice 
Not to incur ; but soon his clear aspect 
Returned, and gracious purpose thus renewed : 
Not only these fair bounds, but all the earth, 
To thee and to thy race I give ; as lords 
Possess it, and all things that therein live, 
Or live in sea, or air, beast, fish, and fowl. 
In sign whereof each bird and beast behold 
After their kinds. I brina: them to receive 



184 PARADISE LOST. 

From thee their names, and pay thee fealty 
With low subjection : understand the same 
Of fish within their watery residence, 
Not hither summoned, since they cannot change 
Their element to draw the thinner air.' 

" As thus he spake, each bird and beast behold 
Approaching two and two ; these cowering low 
With blandishment ; each bird stopped on his wing. 
I named them, as they passed, and understood 
Their nature, with such knowledge God endued 
My sudden apprehension : but in these 
I found not what methought I wanted still ; 
And to the heavenly vision thus presumed : 

" ' O by what name, for thou above all these, 
Above mankind, or aught than mankind higher, 
Surpassest far my naming ; how may I 
Adore thee. Author of this universe, 
And all this good to man? for whose well being 
So amply, and with hands so liberal. 
Thou hast provided all things : but with me 
I see not who partakes. In solitude 
What happiness ? who can enjoy this alone, 
Or all enjoying, what contentment find?' 
Thus I presumptuous ; and the Vision bright, 
As with a smile more brightened, thus replied : 

'"What call'st thou solitude ? Is not the earth 
With various living creatures, and the air, 
Replenished, and all these at thy command 
To come and play before thee ? Know'st thou not 
Their language and their ways ? They also know. 
And reason not contemptibly : with these 
Find pastime, and bear rule ; thy realm is large.' 
So spake the universal Lord, and seemed 
So ordering. I, with leave of speech implored 
And humble deprecation, thus replied : 

" ' Let not ray words offend thee, heavenly Power, 
My Maker, be propitious while I speak. 
Hast thou not made me here thy substitute. 
And these inferior far beneath me set ? 
Among unequals what society 



PABADISB LOST. 185 

Can sort, what harmony or true delight ? 
Which must be mutual, iu proportion due 
Given and received ; but iu disparity 
The one intense, the other still remiss, 
Cannot well suit with either, but soon prove 
Tedious alike. Of fellowship I speak, 
Such as I seek, fit to participate 
All rational delight, wherein the brute 
Cannot be human consort : they rejoice 
Each with their kind, lion with lioness ; 
• So fitly them in pairs thou hast combined : 
Much less can bird with beast, or fish with fowl, 
So well converse ; nor with the ox the ape ; 
Worse then can man with beast, and least of all.' 

" Whereto the Almighty answered, not displeased : 
' A nice and subtle happiness, I see. 
Thou to thyself proposest, in the choice 
Of thy associates, Adam, and wilt taste 
No pleasure, though in pleasure, solitary. 
What think' st thou then of me, and this my state ? 
Seem I to thee sufliciently possessed 
Of happiness, or not '? who am alone 
JtTrom all eternity ; for none I know 
Second to me, or like, equal much less. 
How have I, then, with whom to hold converse 
Save with the creatures which I made, and those 
To me inferior, infinite descents 
Beneath what other creatures are to thee ? ' 

" He ceased : I lowly answered : ' To attain 
The height and depth of thy eternal ways 
All human thoughts come short. Supreme of things I 
Thou in thyself art perfect, and in thee 
Is no deficieuce found ; not so is man, 
But in degree ; the cause of his desire 
By conversation with his like to help, 
Or solace his defects. No need that thou 
Shouldst propagate, already Infinite, 
And through all numbers absolute, though one ; 
But man by number is to manifest 
His single ini perfection, and beget 



186 PABAOISB LOST. 

Like of his like, image multiplied, 

In unity defective, which requires 

Collateral love, and dearest amity. 

Thou in thy secresy although alone, 

Best with thyself accompanied, seek'st not 

Social communication, yet so pleased 

Canst raise thy creature to what height thou wilt 

Of union or communion, deified : 

I by conversing cannot these erect 

From prone, nor in their ways complacence find.' 

Thus I emboldened spake, and freedom used 

Permissive, and acceptance found, which gained 

This answer from the gracious voice divine : 

" ' Thus far to try thee, Adam, I was pleased, 
And find thee knowing not of beasts alone, 
Which thou hast rightly named ; but of thyself. 
Expressing well the spiiit within thee free, 
My image, not imparted to the brute : 
Whose fellowship therefore, unmeet for thee, 
Good reason was thou freely shouldst dislike, 
And be so minded still : I, ere thou spak'st. 
Knew it not good for man to be alone, 
And no such company as then thou sawest 
Intended thee, for trial only brought. 
To see how thou couldst judge of fit and meet : 
What next I bring shall please thee, be assured, 
Thy likeness, thy fit help, thy other self. 
Thy wish exactly to thy heart's desire.' 

" He ended, or I heard no more, for now 
My earthly by his heavenly overpowered, 
Which it had long stood under, strained to the height 
In that celestial colloquy sublime, 
As with an object that excels the sense 
Dazzled and spent, sunk down, and sought repair 
Of sleep, which instantly fell on me, called 
By nature as in aid, and closed mine eyes. 
Mine eyes he closed, but open left the cell 
Of fancy, my internal sight, by which 
Abstract as in a trance methought I saw, 
Though sleeping, where I lay and saw the shape 



PABADI8B LOST. 187 

Still glorious before whom awake I stood ; 

Who, stooping, opened my left side, and took 

From thence a rib, with cordial spirits warm, 

And life-blood streaming fresh : wide was the wound, 

But suddenly with flesh filled up and healed : 

The rib he formed and fashioned with his hands; 

Under his forming hands a creature grew, 

Manlike, but different sex, so lovely fair, 

That what seemed fair in all the world, seemed now 

Mean ; or in her summed up, in her contained, 

And in her looks, which from that time infused 

Sweetness into my heart, unfelt before. 

And into all things from her air inspired 

The spirit of love and amorous delight. 

She disappeared, and left me dark ; I waked 

To find her, or for ever to deplore 

Her loss, and other pleasures all abjure. 

When out of hope, behold her, not far off, 

Such as I saw her in my dream, adorned 

With what all earth or Heaven could bestow 

To make her amiable. On she came. 

Led by her heavenly Maker, though unseen, 

And guided by his voice, nor uninformed 

Of nuptial sanctity and marriage rites : 

Grace was in all her steps. Heaven in her eye, 

In every gesture dignity and love. 

I, overjoyed, could not forbear aloud : 

" ' This turn hath made amends : thou hast fulfilled 
Thy words, Creator bounteous and benign. 
Giver of all things fair ! but fairest this 
Of all thy gifts ! nor enviest. I now see 
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, myself 
Before me : woman is her name, of man 
Extracted ; for this cause he shall forego 
Father and mother, and to his wife adhere ; 
And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one soul.' 

" She heard me thus, and though divinely brought, 
Yet innocence and virgin modesty, 
Her virtue and the conscience of her worth. 
That would be wooed, and not unsought be won, 



188 PARADISE LOST. 

Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retired, 
The more desirable ; or, to say all, 
Nature herself, though pure of sinful thought, 
Wrought in her so, that seeing me she turned : 
I followed her ; she what was honour knew, 
And with obsequious n:ajesty approved 
My pleaded reason. To the nuptial bower 
I led her blushing like the morn : all Heaven 
And happy constellations on that hour 
Shed their selectest influence ; the earth 
Gave signs of gratulation, and each hill ; 
Joyous the birds ; fresh gales and gentle airs 
Whispered it to the woods, and from their wings 
Flung rose, flung odours from the spicy shrub. 
Disporting, till the amorous bird of night 
Sung spousal, and bid haste the evening star 
On his hill top, to light the bridal lamp, 

" Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought 
My story to the sum of earthly bliss 
Which I enjoy, and must confess to find 
In all things else delight indeed, but such 
As, used or not, works in the mind no change, 
Nor vehement desire : these delicacies 
I mean of taste, sight, smell, herbs, fruits and flowers, 
Walks, and the melody of birds ; but here 
Far otherwise : transported I behold. 
Transported touch ; here passion first I felt, 
Commotion strange, in all enjojinents else 
Superior and unmoved, here only weak 
Against the charm of beauty's powerful glance. 
Or nature failed in me, and \eft some part 
Not proof enough such object to sustain ; 
Or, from my side subducting, took perhaps 
More than enough ; at least, on her bestowed 
Too much of ornament, in outward show 
Elaborate, of inward less exact. 
For well I understand in the prime end 
Of nature her the inferior, in the mind 
And inward faculties, which most excel. 
In outward also her resembling less 



PARADISE LOST, 189 

His image who made both, and less expressing 
The character of that dominion given 
O'er other creatures; yet Avhen I approach 
Her loveliness, so absolute she seems, 
And in herself complete, so well to know 
Her own, that what she wills to do or say- 
Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best ; 
All higher knowledge in her presence falls 
Degraded ; wisdom in discourse with her 
Loses discountenanced, and like folly shows; 
Authority and reason on her wait. 
As one intended first, not after made 
Occasionally; and, to consummate all, 
Greatness of mind and nobleness their seat 
Build in her loveliest, and create an awe 
About her, as a guard angelic placed." 

To whom the angel, with contracted brow : 
"Accuse not nature, she hath done her part; 
Do thou but thine, and be not diffident 
Of wisdom ; she deserts thee not, if thou 
Dismiss not her, when most thou need'st her nigh, 
By attributing overmuch to things 
Less excellent, as thou thyself perceiv'st. 
For what admir'st thou, what transports thee so ? 
An outside? fair, no doubt, and worthy well 
Thy cherishing, thy honouring, and thy love, 
Not thy subjection : weigh with her thyself; 
Then value : oft-times nothing profits more 
Than self-esteem, grounded on just and right 
Well managed ; of that skill the more thou know'sti 
The more she will acknowledge thee her head, 
And to realities yield all her shows : 
Made so adorn for thy delight the more, 
So awful, that with honoiir thou mayst love. 
Thy mate, who sees when thou art seen least wise. 
But if the sense of touch whereby mankind 
Is propagated seem such dear delight 
Beyond nil other, think the same vouchsafed 
To cattle and each beast ; which would not be 
To them made common and divulged, if aught 



190 PARADISE LOST. 

Therein enjoyed were worthy to subdue 
The soul of man, or passion in him move. 
What higher in her society thou find'st 
Attractive, human, rational, love still ; 
In loving thou dost well, in passion not, 
Wherein true love consists not ; love refines 
The thoughts, and heart enlarges, hath his seat 
In reason, and is judicious, is the scale 
By which to heavenly love thou may'st ascend, 
N ot sunk in carnal pleasure ; for which cause 
Among the beasts no mate for thee is found." 

To whom thus, half abashed, Adam replied : 
" Neither her outside formed so fair, nor aught 
In procreation common to all kinds 
(Though higher of the genial bed by far, 
And with mysterious reverence I deem), 
So much delights me, as those graceful acts. 
Those thousand decencies that daily flow 
From all her words and actions mixed with love 
And sweet compliance, which declare unfeigned 
Union of mind, or in vis both one soul ; 
Harmony to behold in wedded pair 
More grateful than harmonious sound to the ear. 
Yet these subject not : I to thee disclose 
What inward thence I feel, not therefore foiled, 
Who meet with various objects, from the sense 
Variously representing ; yet, still free. 
Approve the best, and follow what I approve. 
To love thou blamest me not; for love, thou say'st 
Leads up to Heaven, is both the way and guide ; 
Bear with me, then, if lawful what I ask. 
Love not the heavenly spirits ? and how their love 
Express they ? by looks only ? or do they mix 
Irradiance, virtual or immediate touch ? " 

To whom the angel, with a smile that glowed 
Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue, 
Answered : " Let it suffice thee that thou know'st 
Us happy, and without love no happiness. 
Whatever pure thou in the body enjoy'st 
(And pure thou wert created) we enjoy 



PABA.DISE LOST. 191 

In eminence, and obstacle find none 

Of membrane, joint or limb, exclusive bars ; 

Easier than air with air, if spirits embrace, 

Total they mix, union of pure with pure 

Desiring ; nor restrained conveyance need 

As flesh to mix with flesh, or soul with soul. 

But I can now no more ; the parting sun 

Beyond the earth's green cape and verdant isles 

Hesperian sets, my signal to depart. 

Be strong, live happy, and love, but first of all 

Him whom to love is to obey, and keep 

His great command ; take heed lest passion sway 

Thy judgment to do aught which else free will 

Would not admit ; thine and of all thy sons 

The weal or woe in thee is placed : beware ! 

I in thy persevering shall rejoice, 

And all the blest : stand fast ; to stand or fall 

Free in thine own arbitrement it lies. 

Perfect within, no outward aid require ; 

And all temptation to transgress repel." 

So sa}dng, he arose ; whom Adam thus 
Followed with benediction : " Since to part, 
Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger, 
Sent from whose sovran goodness I adore. 
Gentle to me and affable hath been 
Thy condescension, and shall be honoured ever 
With grateful memory : thou to mankind 
Be good and friendly still, and oft return." 

So parted they : the angel up to Heaven 
From the thick shade, and Adam to his bower. 



192 PABADISB LOST. 



BOOK IX. 

THE /lBGUMBNT. 

Satan, having compassed the earth, with meditated guile returns as a 
niist by night mto Paradise ; enters into the serpent sleeping. Adam and 
Eve inthe morning go forth to their labours, which Eve proposes to divide 
in several places, each labouring apart: Adam consents not, alleging the 
danger lest that enemy, of whom they were forewarned, should attempt 
her found alone : Eve, loath to be thought not circumspect or firm 
enough, urges her going apart, the rather desirous to make trial of her 
strength; Adam at last yields. The serpent finds her alone; his subtle 
approach, first gazing, then speaking, with much flattery extolling Eve 
above all other creatures. Eve, wondering to hear the serpent speak, 
asks how he attained to human speech and such understanding not till 
now; the serpent answers, that by tasting of a certain tree in the garden 
he attained both to speech and reason, till then void of both ; Eve requires 
him to bring her to that tree, and finds it to be the tree of knowledge 
forbidden: the serpent, now grown bolder, with many wiles and argu- 
ments induces her at length to eat; she, pleased with the taste, deliberates 
a while whether to impart thereof to Adam or not; at last brings him of 
the fruit ; relates what persuaded her to eat thereof : Adam, »t first 
amazed, but perceiving her lost, resolves, through vehemence of ' )vt, to 
perish with her; and, extenuating the trespass, eats also of the fruU: the 
effects thereof in them both; they seek to cover their nakedn&.,a; then 
fall to varianfee and accusation of one another. 

No more of talk where God or angel guest 
With man, as with his friend, familiar used 
To sit indulgent, and with him partake 
Rural repast, permitting him the while 
Venial discourse unblamed : I now must change 
Those notes to tragic ; foul distrust, and breach 
Disloyal on the part of man, revolt. 
And disobedience ; on the part of Heaven 
Now alienated, distance and distaste, 
Anger and just rebuke, and judgment given, 
That brought into this world a world of woe 
Sin and her shadow Death, and misery 
Death's harbinger : sad task, yet argument 



PARADISE LOST. 198 

Not less but more heroic than the wrath 

Of stern Achilles on his foe pursued 

Thrice fugitive about Troy wall ; or rage 

Of Turnus for Lavinia disespoused ; 

Or Neptune's ire, or Juno's, that so long 

Perplexed the Greek and Cytherea's son ; 

If answerable stylo I can obtain 

Of my celestial patroness, who designs 

Her nightly A'isitation unimplored, 

And dictates to me slumbering, or inspires 

Easy my unpremeditated verse : 

Since first this subject for heroic song 

Pleased me long choosing, and beginning late J 

Not sedulous by nature to indite 

Wars, hitherto the only argument 

Heroic deemed, chief mastery to dissect 

With long and tedious havoc fabled knights 

In battles feigned ; the better fortitude 

Of patience and heroic martyrdom 

Unsung ; or to describe races and games, 

Or tilting furniture, emblazoned shields, 

Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds ; 

Bases and tinsel trappings, gorgeous knights 

At joust or tournament ; then marshalled feast 

Served up in hall with sewers and seneschals; 

The skill of artifice or office mean, 

Not that which justly gives heroic name 

To person or to poem. Me of these 

Nor skilled, nor studious, higher argument 

Remains, sufficient of itself to raise 

That name, unless an age too late, or cold 

Climate, or years, damp my intended wing 

Depressed, and much they may, if all be mine, 

Not hers who brings it nightly to my ear. 

The sun was sunk, and after him the star 
Of Hesperus, whose office is to bring 
Twilight upon the earth, short arbiter 
'Twixt day and night, and now from end to end 
Night's hemisphere had veiled the horizon round ; 
When Satan, who late fled before the threats 

13 



194 PARADISE LOST. 

Of Gabriel oiit of Eden, now improved 

In meditated fraud and malice, bent 

On man's destruction, maugre what might hap 

Of heavier on himself, fearless returned. 

By night he had fled, and at midnight returned 

From compassing the earth, cautious of day, 

Since Uriel, regent of the sun, descried 

His entrance, and forewarned the cherubim 

That kept their watch; thence full of anguish driven, 

The space of seven continued nights he rode 

With darkness ; thrice the equinoctial line 

He circled ; four times crossed the car of night 

From pole to pole, traversing each coMre : 

On the eighth returned, and on the coast averse 

From entrance or cherubic watch, by stealth 

Found unsuspected way. There was a place, 

NoAV not, though sin, not time, first wrought the change, 

"Where Tigris at the foot of Paradise 

Into a gulf shot under ground, till part 

Rose up a fountain by the tree of life ; 

In with the river sunk, and with it rose 

Satan, involved in rising mist ; then sought 

Where to lie hid ; sea he had searched, and land, 

From Eden over Pontus, and the pool 

Maeotis, up beyond the river Ob ; 

Downward as far antartic ; and in length 

West from Orontes to the ocean barred 

At Darien ; thence to the land where flows 

Ganges and Indus : thus the orb he roamed 

With narrow search, and with inspection deep 

Considered every creature, which of all 

Most opportune might serve his wiles, and found 

The serpent subtlest beast of all the field. 

Him after long debate, irresolute 

Of thoughts revolved, his final sentence chose 

Fit vessel, fittest imp of fraud, in whom 

To enter, and his dark suggestions hide 

From sharpest sight ; for in the wily snake, 

Whatever sleights, none would suspicious mark, 

As from his wit and native subtlety 



PARADISE LOST. 195 

Proceeding ; which, in other beasts observed, 
Doubt might beget of diabolical power 
Active within beyond the sense of brute. 
Thus he resolved, but first from inward grief 
His bursting passion into plaints thus poured : 

" O earth ! how like to Heaven, if not preferred 
More justly, seat worthier of gods, as built 
With second thoughts, reforming what was old ! 
For what God, after better, worse would build ? 
Terrestrial Heaven, danced roiand by other heaven* 
That shine, yet bear their bright officious lamps, 
Light above light, for thee alone, as seems, 
In thee concentring all their precious beams 
Of sacred influence ! As God in Heaven 
Is centre, yet extends to all, so thou 
Centring receiv'st from all those orbs ; in thee, 
Not in themselves, all their known virtue appears 
Productive in herb, plant, and nobler birth 
Of creatures animate with gradual life 
Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in man. 
With what delight could I have walked thee round. 
If I could joy in aught, sweet interchange 
Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains, 
Now land, now sea, and shores with forest crowned, 
Rocks, dens, and caves ! but I in none of these 
Find place or refuge ; and the more I see 
Pleasures about me, so much more I feel 
Torment within me, as from the hateful seige 
Of contraries ; all good to me becomes 
Bane, and in Heaven much worse would be my state. 
But neither here seek I, no, nor in Heaven 
To dwell, unless by mastering Heaven's supreme j 
Nor hope to be myself less miserable 
By what I seek, but others to make such 
As I, though thereby worse to me redound : 
For only in destroying I find ease 
To my relentless thoughts ; and him destroyed, 
Or won to what may work his utter loss. 
For whom all this Avas made, all this will soon 
Follow, as to him linked in weal or woe ; 



196 PAEADISB LOST. 

In woe then ; that destruction wide may range : 

To me shall be the glory sole among 

The infernal powers, in one day to have marred 

What he, Almighty styled, six nights and days 

Continued making, and who knows how long 

Before had been contriving, though perhaps 

Not longer than since I in one night freed 

From servitude inglorious well nigh half 

The angelic name, and thinner left the throng 

Of his adorers : he, to be avenged, 

And to repair his numbers thus impaired, 

Whether such virtue spent of old now failed 

More angels to create, if they at least 

Are his created, or, to spite us more, 

Determined to advance into our room 

A creature formed of earth, and him endow, 

Exalted from so base original, 

With heavenly spoils, our spoils : what he decreed 

He effected ; man he made, and for him built 

Magnificent this world, and earth his seat, 

Him lord pronounced, and (oh, indignity !) 

Subjected to his service angel-wings. 

And flaming ministers to watch and tend 

Their earthly charge : of these the vigilance 

I dread, and to elude, thus wrapped in mist 

Of midnight vapour, glide obscure and pry 

In every bush and brake, whose hap may find 

The serpent 8lee])ing, in whose mazy folds 

To hide me and the dark intent I bring. 

Oh, foul descent ! that I, who erst contended 

With gods to sit the highest, am now constrained 

Into a beast, and mixed with bestial slime, 

This essence to incarnate and imbrute. 

That to the height of deity aspired ! 

But what will not ambition and revenge 

Descend to ? who aspires must down as low 

As high he soared, obnoxious first or last 

To basest things. Revenge, at first though sweet, 

Bitter ere long back on itself recoils : 

Let it ; I reck not, so it light well aimed, 



PARADISE LOST. 197 

Since higher I fall short, on him who next 
Provokes my envy, this new favourite 
Of Heaven, this man of clay, son of despite, 
Whom, us the more to spite, his Maker raised 
From dust : spite then with spite is best repaid." 

So saying, through each thicket dank or dry 
Like a black mist low creeping, he held on 
His midnight search, where soonest he might find 
The serpent : him fast sleeping soon he found 
In labyrinth of many a round self-rolled. 
His head the midst, well stored with subtle wiles : 
Nor yet in horrid shade or dismal den. 
Nor nocent yet, but on the grassy herb 
Fearless, unfeared, he slejjt : in at his mouth 
The devil entered, and his brutal sense, 
In heart or head, possessing, soon inspired 
With act intelligential ; but his sleep 
Disturbed not, waiting close the approach of morn. 
Now when as sacred light began to dawn 
In Eden on the humid flowers, that breathed 
Their morning incense, when all things that breathe, 
From the earth's great altar send up silent praise 
To the Creator, and his nostrils fill 
With grateful smell, forth came the human pair, 
And joined their vocal worship to the quire 
Of creatures wanting voice ; that done, partake 
The season, prime for sweetest sents and airs : 
Then commune how that day they best may ply 
Their growing work : for much their work outgrew 
The hands' despatch of two gardening so wide. 
And Eve first to her husband thus began : 

" Adam, well may we labour still to dress 
This garden, still to tend plant, herb, and flower. 
Our pleasant task enjoined ; but, till more hands 
Aid us, the work under our labour grows. 
Luxurious by restraint ; what we by day 
Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bind. 
One night or two with wanton growth derides, 
Tending to wild. Thou, therefore, now advise. 
Or hear what to my mind first thoiights present ; 



198 PARADISE LOST. 

Let us divide our Labours, thou where choice 
Leads thee, or where most needs, whether to wind 
The woodbine round this arbour, or direct 
The clasping ivy where to climb, while I 
In yonder spring of roses intermixed 
With myrtle, find what to redress till noon : 
For while so near each other thus all day 
Our task we choose, what wonder if so near 
Looks intervene and smiles, or object new 
Casual discourse draw on, which intermits 
Our day's work, brought to little, though begun 
Early, and the hour of supper comes unearned ? " 

To whom mild answer Adam thus returned : 
" Sole Eve, associate sole, to me beyond 
Compare above all living creatures dear ! 
Well hast thou motioned, well thy thoughts employed 
How we might best fulfil the work which here 
God hath assigned us, nor of me shalt pass 
Unpraised ; for nothing lovelier can be found 
In woman, than to study household good. 
And good works in her husband to promote. 
Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposed 
Labor, as to debar us when we need 
Refreshment, whether food, or talk between, 
*Food of the mind, or this sweet intei*course 
Of looks and smiles ; for smiles from reason flow, 
To brute denied, and are of love the food ; 
Love, not the lowest end of human life. 
For not to irksome toil, but to delight 
He made us, and delight to reason joined. 
These paths and bowers doubt not but our joint handl 
Will keej) from wilderness with ease, as wide 
As we need walk, till younger hands ere long 
Assist us : but if much converse perhaps 
Thee satiate, to short absence I could yield ; 
For solitude sometimes is best society, 
And short retirement urges sweet return. 
But other doubt possesses me, lest harm 
Befall thee severed from me; for thou know'st 
What hath been warned us, what malicious foe. 



PAEADISE LOST. 199 

Envying our happiness, and of his own 

Despairing, seeks to work us woe and shame 

By sly assault ; and somewhere nigh at hand 

Watches, no doubt, with greedy hope to find 

His wish and best advantage, us asunder, 

Hopeless to circumvent us joined, where each 

To other speedy aid might lend at need ; 

Whether his first design be to withdraw 

Our fealty from God, or to disturb 

Conjugal love, than which perhaps no bliss 

Enjoyed by us excites his envy more ; 

Or this, or worse, leave not the faithful side 

That gave thee being, still shades thee and protecta. 

The wife, where danger or dishonor lurks, 

Safest and seemliest by her husband stays, 

Who guards her, or with her the worst endures." 

To whom the virgin majesty of Eve, 
As one who loves, and some unkindness meets, 
With sweet austere composure thus replied : 

" Offspring of Heaven and earth, and all earth's loid, 
That such an enemy we have, who seeks 
Our ruin, both by thee informed I learn. 
And from the parting angel overheard, 
As in a shady nook I stood behind, 
Just then returned at shut of evening flowers. 
But that thou shouldst my firmness, therefore, doubt 
To God or thee, because we have a foe 
May tempt it, I expected not to hear. 
His violence thou fear'st not, being such 
As we, not capable of death or pain, 
Can either not receive, or can repel. 
Plis fraud is then thy fear, which plain infers 
Thy equal fear that ray firm faith and love 
Can by his fraud be shaken or seduced ; 
Tlioughts, which how found they harbour in thy breastj 
Adam, misthought of her to thee so dear ? 

To whom with healing words Adam replied : 
" Daughter of God and man, immortal Eve, 
For such thou art, from sin and blame entire : 
Not diffident of thee do I dissuade 



200 PARADISE LOST. 

Thy absence from my sight, but to avoid 

The attempt itself, intended by our foe. 

For he who tempts, though in vain, at least asperses 

The tempted with dishonour foul, supposed 

Not incorruptible of faith, not proof 

Against temptation : thou thyself with scorn 

And anger wouldst resent the offered wrong, 

Though ineffectual found : misdeem not, then, 

If such affront I labour to avert 

From thee alone, which on us both at once 

The enemy, though bold, will hardly dare ; 

Or, daring, first on me the assault shall light. 

Nor thou his malice and false guile contemn ; 

Subtle he needs must be, who could seduce 

Angels ; nor think superfluous others' aid. 

I from the influence of thy looks receive 

Access in every virtue ; in thy sight 

More wise, more watchful, stronger, if need were. 

Of outward strength ; while shame, thou looking oa, 

Shame to be overcome or over-reached. 

Would utmost vigour raise, and raised unite. 

Why should not thou like sense within thee feel 

When I am present, and thy trial choose 

With me, best witness of thy virtue tried ? " 

So spake domestic Adam in his care 
And matrimonial love ; but Eve, who thought 
Leps attribtited to her faith sincere. 
Thus her reply with accent sweet renewed: 

" If this be our condition, thus to dwell 
In narrow circuit straitened by a foe, 
Subtle or violent, we not endued 
Single with like defence, wherever met. 
How are we happy, still in fear of harm ? 
But harm precedes not sin : only our foe. 
Tempting, affronts us with his foul esteem 
Of our integrity : his foul esteem 
Sticks no dishonor on our front, but turns 
Foul on himself ; then wherefore shunned or feared 
By us ? who rather double honour gain 
From his surmise proved false, find peace within, 



PAEADISK LOST. 201 

t avor from Heaven, our witness from the event. 
And what is faith, love, virtue, unassayed 
Alone, without exterior help sustained ? 
Let U6 not, then, suspect our happy state 
Left so imperfect by the Maker wise, 
As not secure to single or combined. 
Frail is our happiness, is this be so, 
And Eden were no Eden thus exposed." 

To whom thus Adam fervently replied : 
" O woman, best are all things as the will 
Of God ordained them ; his creating hand 
Nothing imperfect or deficient left 
Of all that he created, much less man, 
Or aught that might his happy state secure, 
Secure from outward force ; within himself 
The danger lies, yet lies Avithiu his power : 
Against his will he can receive no harm. 
But God left free the will, for what obeys 
Reason, is free ; and reason he made right, 
But bid her well beware, and still erect ; 
Lest by some fair-ajipearing good surprised 
She dictate false, and misinform the will 
To do what God expressl)^ hath forbid. 
Not then mistrust, but tender love, enjoins 
That I should mind thee oft ; and mind thou me. 
Firm we subsist, yet possibly to swerve, 
Since reason not impossibly may meet 
Some specious object by the foe suborned, 
And fall into deception unaware. 
Not keeping strictest watch, as she was warned. 
Seek not temptation then, which to avoid 
"Were better, and most likely, if from me 
Thou sever not : trial will come unsought. 
Wouldst thou approve thy constancy, approve 
First thy obedience ; the other who can know, 
Not seeing thee attempted, who attest ? 
But if thou think trial unsought may find 
Us both securer than thus warned thou seem'st. 
Go ; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more ; 
Go in thy native innocence ; rely 



202 PABADISB LOST. 

On what thou hast of virtue; summon all : 

For God towards thee hath done his part : do thine." 

So spake the patriarch of mankind ; but Eve 
Persisted ; yet submiss, though last, replied : 

" "With thy permission, then, and thus forewarned, 
Chiefly by what thy own last reasoning words 
Touched only, that our trial, when least sought, 
May find us both, perhaps, far less prepared. 
The willinger I go, nor much expect 
A foe so proud will first the weaker seek ; 
So bent, the more shall shame him his repulse." 

Thus saying, from her husband's hand her hand 
Soft she withdrew, and, like a wood-nymph light. 
Oread or Dryad, or of Delia's train, 
Betook her to the groves ; but Delia's self 
In gait surpassed, and goddess-like deport, 
Though not as she with bow and quiver armed. 
But with such gardening tools as art yet rude, 
Guiltless of fire, had formed, or angels brought. 
To Pales, or Pomona, thus adorned, 
Likest she seemed ; Pomona when she fled 
Vertumnus, or to Ceres in her prime, 
Yet virgin of Proserpina from Jove. 
Her long with ardent look his eye pursued 
Delighted, but desiring more her stay. 
Oft he to her his charge of quick return 
Repeated ; she to him as oft engaged 
To be returned by noon amid the bower, 
And all things in best order to invite 
Noontide repast, or afternoon's repose. 
O much deceived, much failing, hapless Eve, 
Of thy presumed return ! event perverse 1 * 
Thou never from that hour in Paradise 
Found'st either sweet repast, or sound repose ; 
Such ambush, hid among sweet flowers and shades, 
Waited with hellish rancour imminent 
To intercept thy way, or send thee back 
Despoiled of innocence, of fait'j, of bliss. 
For now, and since first break of dawn, the fiend, 
Mere serpent in appearance, forth was come, 



PARADISE LOST. 203 

And on his quest, where likliest he might find 

The only two of mankind, but in them 

The whole included race, his purposed prey. 

In bower and field he sought, where any tuft 

Of grove or garden-plot more pleasant lay, 

Their tendance or plantation for delight ; 

By fountain or by shady rivulet 

He sought them both, but wished his hap might find 

Eve separate ; he wished, but not with ho2)e 

Of what so seldom chanced ; when to his wish, 

Beyond his hope. Eve separate he spies. 

Veiled in a cloud of fragrance, where she stood, 

Half spied, so thick the roses blushing round 

About her glowed, oft stooping to support 

Each flower of slender stalk, whose head, though gay 

Carnation, purple, azure, or specked with gold, 

Hung drooping unsustained ; them she upstays 

Gently with myrtle band, mindless the while 

Herself, though fairest unsupported flower, 

From her best prop so far, and storm so nigh. 

Nearer he drew, and many a walk traversed 

Of stateliest covert, cedar, pine, or palm, 

Then voluble and bold, now hid, now seen 

Among thick-woven arborets and flowers 

Embordered on each bank, the hand of Eve : 

Spot more delicious than those gardens feigned 

Or of revived Adonis, or renowned 

Alcinous, host of old Laertes' son ; 

Or that, not mystic, where the sapient king 

Held dalliance with his fair Egyptian spouse. 

Much he the place admired, the person more. 

As one who long in populous city pent, 

Where houses thick and sewers annoy the air, 

Forth issuing on a summer's morn to breathe 

Among the pleasant villages and farms 

Adjoined, from each thing met conceives delight; 

The smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine, 

Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound ; 

If chance with nymph-like step fair virgin pass. 

What pleasing seemed, for her now pleases more, 



204 PARADISE LOST. 

She most, and in her look suras all delight : 
Such pleasure took the serpent to behold 
This flowery plat, the sweet recess of Eve, 
Thus early, thus alone ; her heavenly form 
Angelic, but more soft and feminine ; 
Her graceful innocence, her every air 
Of gesture, or least action, overawed 
His malice, and with rapine sweet bereaved 
His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought. 
That space the evil one abstracted stood 
From his own evil, and for the time remained 
Stupidly good, of enmity disarmed, 
Of guile, of hate, of envy, of revenge ; 
But the hot Hell that always in him burns. 
Though in mid Heaven, soon ended his delight, 
And tortures him now more, the more he sees 
Of pleasure not for him ordained : then soon 
Fierce hate he recollects, and all his thoughts 
Of mischief, gratulating, thus excites : 

" Thoughts, whither have ye led me ! with what sweet 
Compulsion thus transported to forget 
What hither brought us ! hate, not love ; nor hope 
Of Paradise for Hell, hope here to taste 
Of pleasure ; but all pleasure to destroy, 
Save what is in destroying ; other joy 
To me is lost. Then let me not let pass 
Occasion which now smiles ; behold alone 
The woman, opportune to all attempts ; 
Her husband, for I view far round, not nigh, 
Whose higher intellectual more I shun, 
And strength, of courage haughty, and of limb 
Heroic built, though of terrestrial mould ; 
Foe not informidable ; exempt from wound, 
I not ; so much hath Hell debased, and pain 
Enfeebled me, to what I was in Heaven. 
She fair, divinely fair, fit love for gods ; 
Not terrible, though terror be in love 
And beauty, not approached by stronger hate, 
Hate stronger, under show of love well feigned. 
The way which to her ruin now I tend." 



PAKADISK L03T 205 

So spake the enemy of mankind enclosed 
In serpent, inmate bad ! and toward Eve 
Addressed his way, not with indented wave. 
Prone on the ground, as since, but on his rear, 
Circular base of rising folds that towered 
Fold above fold, a surging maze, his head 
Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes ; 
With burnished neck of verdant gold, erect 
Amidst his circling spires, that on the grass 
Floated redundant : pleasing was his shape, 
And lovely ; never since of serpent kind 
Lovelier, not those that in Illyria changed 
Hermione and Cadmus, or the god 
In Epidaurus ; nor to which transformed 
Ammonian Jove, or Capitoline, was seen ; 
He with Olympias ; this with her who bore 
Scipio the height of Rome. With tract oblique 
At first, as one who sought access, but feared 
To interrupt, sidelong he works his way, 
As when a ship by skilful steersman wrought 
Nigh river's mouth or foreland, where the wind 
Veers oft, as oft so steers, and shifts her sail : 
So varied he, and of his tortuous train 
Curled many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve, 
To lure her eye ; she busied heard the sound 
Of nistling leaves, but minded not, as used 
To such disport before her through the field, 
From every beast, more duteous at her call 
Than at Circean call the herd disguised. 
He, bolder now, uncalled before her stood. 
But as in gaze admiring : oft he bowed 
His turret crest, and sleek enamelled neck, 
Fawning, and licked the ground whereon she IrocL 
His gentle dumb expression turned at length 
The eye of Eve to mark his play ; he, glad 
Of her attention gained, with serpent tongue 
Organic, or impulse of vocal air, 
His fraudulent temptation thus began : 

" Wonder not, sovran mistress, if perhaps 
Thou canst, who art sole wonder; much less arm 



206 PABADISB LOST. 

Thy looks, the heaven of mildness, with disdain, 

Displeased that I approach thee thus, and gaze 

Insatiate, I thus single, nor have feared 

Thy awful brow, more awful thus retired. 

Fairest resemblance of thy Maker fair. 

Thee all things living gaze on, all things thine 

By gift, and thy celestial beauty adore 

With ravishment beheld, there best beheld 

Where universally admired ; but here 

In this enclosure wild, these beasts among, 

Beholders rude, and shallow to discern 

Half what in thee is fair, one man except. 

Who sees thee ? (and what is one ?) who shouldst be •sen 

A goddess among gods, adored and served 

By angels numberless, thy daily train." 

So glozed the tempter, and his proem tuned ; 
Into the heart of Eve his words made way. 
Though at the voice miich marvelling ; at length, 
Not unamazed, she thus in answer spake : 

" What may this mean ? language of man pronounced 
By tongue of brute, and human sense expressed 1 
The first, at least, of these I thought denied 
To beasts, whom God on their creation-day 
Created mute to all articulate sound ; 
The latter I demur, for in their looks 
Much reason, and in their actions oft appears. 
Thee, serpent, subtlest beast of all the field 
I knew, but not with human voice endued ; 
Redouble then this miracle, and say. 
How cam'st thou speakable of mute, and how 
To me so friendly grown above the rest 
Of brutal kind, that daily are in sight : 
Say, for such wonder claims attention due.'* 

To whom the guileful tempter thus replied : 
" Empress of this fair world, resplendent Eve, 
Easy to me it is to tell thee all 

What thou command'st, and right thou shouldst be obeyed. 
I was at first as other beasts that graze 
The trodden herb, of abject thoughts and low, 
As was my food ; nor aught but food discerned 



PARADISE LOST. 207 

Or sex, and apprehended nothing high : 

Till on a day, roving the field, I chanced 

A goodly tree far distant to behold 

Loaden with fruit of fairest colours mixed, 

Ruddy and gold : I nearer drew to gaze ; 

When from the boughs a savory odour blovn, 

Grateful to appetite, more pleased my sense 

Thau smell of sweetest fennel, or the teats 

Of ewe or goat dropping with milk at even, 

Unsucked of lamb or kid, that tend their play. 

To satisfy the sharp desire I had 

Of tasting those fair apples, I resolved 

Not to defer ; hunger and thirst at once, 

Powerful persuaders, qiiickened at the scent 

Of that alluring fruit, urged me so keen. 

About the mossy trunk I wound me soon, 

For high from ground the branches would require 

Thy utmost reach or Adam's : round the tree 

All other beasts that saw, with like desire 

Longing and envying stood, but could not reach. 

Amid the tree now got, where plenty hung 

Tempting so nigh, to pluck and eat my fill 

I spared not ; for such pleasure, till that hour, 

At feed or fountain never had I found. 

Sated at length, ere long I might perceive 

Strange alteration in me, to degree 

Of reason in my inward powers, and speech 

"Wanted not long, though to this shape retained. 

Thenceforth to speculations high or deep 

I turned my thoughts, and with capacious mind 

Considered all things visible in Heaven, 

Or earth, or middle, all things fair and good ; 

But all that fair and good in thy divine 

Semblance, and in thy beauty's heavenly ray, 

United I beheld ; no fair to thine 

Equivalent or second, which compelled 

Me thus, though importune perhaps, to come 

And gaze, and worship thee, of right declared 

Sovran of creatures, universal dame." 

So talked the spirited sly snake ; and Eve, 



208 PAEADISE LOST. 

Yet more amazed, unwary thxis replied : 

" Serpent, thy overpraising leaves in doubt 
The virtue of that fruit, in thee first proved ; 
But say, where grows the tree, from hence how fart 
For many are the trees of God that grow 
In Paradise, and varioxis, yet unknown 
To us, in such abundance lies our choice, 
As leaves a greater store of fruit untouched, 
Still hanging incorruptible, till men 
Grow up to their provision, and more hands 
Help to disburden nature of her birth." 

To whom the wily adder, blithe and glad: 
" Empress, the way is ready, and not long ; 
Beyond a row of myrtles, on a flat. 
Fast by a fountain, one small thicket past 
Of blowing myrrh and balm : if thou accept 
My conduct, I can bring thee hither soon." 

" Lead then," said Eve. He, leading, swiftly rolled 
In tangles, and made intricate seem straight, 
To mischief swift. Hope elevates, and joy 
Brightens his crest; as when a Meandering fire, 
Compact of unctuous vapour, which the night 
Condenses, and the cold environs round, 
Kindled through agitation to a flame. 
Which oft, they say, some evil spirit attends, 
Hovering and blazing with delusive light, 
Misleads the amazed night-wanderer from his way 
To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool ; 
There swallowed up and lost, from succour far. 
So glistered the dire snake, and into fraud 
Led Eve out credulous mother, to the tree 
Of prohibition, root of all our woe ; 
Which when she saw, thus to her guide she spake : 

" Serpent, we might have spared our coming hither, 
Fruitless to me, though fruit be here to excess, 
The credit of whose virtue rest with thee, 
Wondrous indeed, if cause of such effects. 
But of this tree we may not taste nor touch ; 
God so commanded, and left that command 
Sole daughter of his voice ; the rest, we live 



PARADISE LOST. 209 

Law to ourselves ; our reason is our law." 

To whom the tempter guilefully replied : 
" Indeed ! hath God then said that of the fruit 
Of all these garden trees ye shall not eat, 
Yet lords declared of all m earth or air ? " 

To whom thus Eve, yet sinless : " Of the fruit 
Of each tree in the garden we may eat, 
But of the fruit of this fair tree amidst 
The garden, God hath said, ' Ye shall not eat 
Thereof, nor shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' " 

She scarce had said, though brief, when now more bold 
The tempter, but with show of zeal and love 
To man, and indignation at his wrong, 
New part puts on ; and, as to passion moved. 
Fluctuates disturbed, yet comely and in act 
Raised, as of some great matter to begin. 
As when of old some orator renownei 
In Athens or free Rome, where eloquence 
Flourished, since mute, to some great cause addressed, 
Stood in himself collected, while each part, 
Motion, each act, won audience ere the tongue, 
Sometimes in height began, as no delay 
Of preface brooking through his zeal of right ; 
So standing, moving, or to height up-grown, 
The tempter, all impassioned, thus began : 

" O sacred, wise, and wisdom-giving plant, 
Mother of science ! now I feel thy power 
Within me clear, not only to discern 
Things in their causes, but to trace the ways 
Of highest agents, deemed however wise. 
Queen of this universe, do not believe 
Those rigid threats of death. Ye shall not die I 
How should ye ? By the fruit ? It gives you life 
To knowledge. By the threatener ? Look on mo, 
Me who have touched and tasted, yet both live. 
And life more perfect have attained than fato 
Meant me, by venturing higher than my lot. 
Shall that be shut to man, which to the beast 
Is open ? or will God incense his ire 
For such a petty trespass ? and not praise 

14 



210 PABADISK LOST. 

Rather your dauntless virtue, whom the pain 
Of death denounced, whatever thing death be, 
Deterred not from achieving what might lead 
To happier life, knowledge of good and evil ; 
Of good, how just ? of evil, if what is evil 
Be real, why not known, since easier shunned? 
God therefore cannot hurt ye, and be just ; 
Not just, not God ; not feared then, nor obeyed : 
Your fear itself of death removes the fear. 
"Why then was this forbid ? Why, but to awe ? 
Why, but to keep ye low and ignorant. 
His worshippers ? He knows that in the day 
Ye eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear 
Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then 
Opened and cleared, and ye shall be as gods, 
Knowing both good and evil as they know. 
That ye shall be as gods, since I as man, 
Internal man, is but proportion meet ; 
I of brute human, ye of human gods. 
So ye shall die, perhaps, by putting off 
Human, to put on gods ; death to be wished, 
Though threatened, which no worse than this can bring. 
And what are gods that man may not become 
As they, participating godlike food ? 
The gods are first, and that advantage use 
On our belief that all from them proceeds ; 
I question it ; for this fair earth I see, 
Warmed by the sun, producing every kind. 
Them nothing : if they all things, who enclosed 
Knowledge of good and evil in this tree, 
That whoso eats thereof forthwith attains 
Wisdom without their leave ? and wherein lies 
The offence, that man should thus attain to know? 
What can your knowledge hurt him, or this tree 
Impart against his will, if all be his ? 
Or is it envy ? and can envy dwell 
In heavenly breasts ? These, these and many more 
Causes import your need of this fair fruit, 
Goddess humane : reach then, and freely taste." 
He ended ; and his words, replete with guile. 



PARADISE LOST 211 

Into her heart too easy entrance wen : 
Fixed on the fruit she gazed, which to behold 
Might tempt alone, and in her ears the sound 
Yet rung of his persuasive words impregned 
With reason, to her seeming, and with truth ; 
Meanwhile the hour of noon drew on, and waked 
An eager appetite, raised by the smell 
So savoury of that fruit, which with desire, 
Inclinable now grown to touch or taste, 
Solicited her longing eye ; yet first 
Pausing a while, thus to herself she mused : 

" Great are thy virtues, doubtless, best of fruits, 
Though kept from man, and worthy to be admired, 
Whose taste, too long forborne, at first assay 
Gave elocution to the mute, and taught 
The tongue not made for speech to speak thy praise : 
Thy praise He also who forbids thy use. 
Conceals not from us, naming thee the tree 
Of knowledge, knowledge both of good and evil j 
Forbids us then to taste, but his forbidding 
Commends thee more, while it infers the good 
By thee communicated, and our want: 
For good unknown sure is not had ; or, had 
And yet unknown, is as not had at all. 
In plain, then, what forbids He but to know, 
Forbids us good, forbids us to be wise ? 
Such prohibitions bind not. But if death 
Bind us with after-bands, what profits then 
Our inward freedom? In the day we eat 
Of this fair fruit, our doom is, we shall die. 
How dies the serpent ? he hath eaten and lives. 
And knows, and speaks, and reasons, and discerns, 
Irrational till then. For us alone 
Was death invented ? or to us denied 
This intellectual food, for beasts reserved ? 
For beasts, it seems : yet that one beast which first 
Hath tasted, envies not, but brings with joy 
The good befallen him, author unsuspect. 
Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile. 
What fear I, then ? rather, what know to fear 



212 PAEADISK LOST. 

TJuder this ignorance of good and evil, 

Of God or death, of law or penalty ? 

Here grows the cure of all, this fruit divine, 

Fair to the eye, inviting to the taste. 

Of virtue to make wise : what hinders then 

To reach, and feed at once both body and mind?" 

So saying, her rash hand in evil hour 
Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate : 
Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat, 
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe, 
That all was lost. Back to the thicket slunk 
The guilty serpent ; and well might ; for Eve, 
Intent now wholly on her taste, nought else 
Regarded ; such delight till then, as seemed, 
In fruit she never tasted, whether true 
Or fancied so, through expectation high 
Of knowledge ; nor was godhead from her thought. 
Greedily she engorged without restraint, 
And knew not eating death ; satiate at length, 
And heightened as with wine, jocund and boon. 
Thus to herself she pleasingly began : 

" O sovran, virtuous, precious of all trees 
In Paradise ! of operation blest 
To sapience, hitherto obscured, infamed, 
And thy fair fruit let hang, as to no end 
Created ; but henceforth my early care, 
Not without song each morning, and due praise, 
Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease 
Of thy full branches offered free to all ; 
Till, dieted by thee, I grow mature 
In knowledge, as the gods who all things know; 
Though others envy what they cannot give ; 
For had the gift been theirs, it had not here 
Thus grown. Experience, next to thee I owe. 
Best guide ; not following thee, I had remained 
In ignorance ; thou open'st wisdom's way, 
And giv'st access, though secret she retire. 
And I perhaps am secret ; Heaven is high, 
High, and remote to see from thence distinct 
Each thing on earth ; and other care perhaps 



PARADISE LOST. 213 

May have diverted from continual watch 
Our great Forbidder, safe witli all his spies 
About him. But to Adam in what sort 
Shall I appear ? shall I to him make known 
As yet my change, and give him to partake 
Full happiness with me, or rather not, 
But keep the odds of knowledge in my power 
Without co-partner ? so to add what wants 
In female sex, the more to draw his love, 
And render me more equal, and, perhaps, 
A thing not undesirable, sometime 
Superior ; for inferior who is free ? 
This may be well ; but what if God have seen. 
And death ensue ? then I shall be no more, 
And Adam, wedded to another Eve, 
Shall live with her enjoying, I extinct : 
A death to think ! Confirmed then I resolve, 
Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe : 
So dear I love him, that with him all deaths 
I could endure, without liim live no life." 

So saying, from the tree her step she turned, 
But first low reverence done, as to the power 
That dwelt within, whose presence had infused 
Into the plant sciential sap, derived 
From nectar, drink of gods. Adam the while, 
Waiting desirous her return, had wove 
Of choicest flowers a garland to adorn 
Her ti-esses, and her rural labours crown. 
As reapers oft are wont their harvest queen. 
Great joy he promised to his thoughts, and new 
Solace in her return, so long delayed ; 
Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill. 
Misgave him ; he the faltering measure felt ; 
And forth to meet her went, the way she took 
That morn when first they parted ; by the tree 
Of knowledge he must pass, there he her met. 
Scarce from the tree returning; in her hand 
A bough of fairest fruit, that downy smiled, 
New gathered, and ambrosial smell diffused. 
To him she hasted ; in her face excuse 



214 PAEADISE LOST. 

Came prologue, and apology too prompt, 

Which with bland words at will she thus addressed : 

" Hast thou not wondered, Adam, at my stay ? 
Thee I have missed, and thought it long deprived 
Thy presence ; agony of love till now 
Not felt, nor shall be twice; for never more 
Mean I to try, what rash untried I sought. 
The pain of absence from thy sight. But strange 
Hath been the cause, and wonderful to hear : 
This tree is not, as we are told, a tree 
Of danger tasted, nor to evil unknown 
Opening the way, but of divine effect 
To open eyes, and make them gods who taste ; 
And hath been tasted such : the serpent wise, 
Or not restrained as we, or not obeying, 
Hath eaten of the fruit, and is become. 
Not dead, as we are threatened, but thenceforth 
Endued with human voice and human sense, 
Reasoning to admiration ; and with me 
Persuasively hath so prevailed, that I 
Have also tasted, and have also found 
The effects to corresj>ond : opener mine eyefc, 
Dim erst, dilated spirits, ampler heart, 
And growing up to godhead, which for thee 
Chiefly I sought, without thee can despise. 
For bliss, as thou hast part, to me is bliss ; 
Tedious, unshared with thee, and odious soon. 
Thou therefore also taste, that equal lot 
May join us, equal joy as equal love ; 
Lest, thou not tasting, different degree 
Disjoin us, and I then, too late, renounce 
Deity for thee, when fate will not permit." 

Thus Eve, with countenance blithe, her story told; 
But in her cheek distemper flushing glowed. 
On the other side, Adam, soon as he heard 
The fatal trespass done by Eve, amazed, 
Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill 
Ran through his veins, and all his joints relaxed ; 
From his slack hand the garland wreathed for Eve 
Down dropped, and all the faded roses shed. 



PASADISB LOST. 216 

Speechless ne stood and pale, till thus at length 
First to himself he inward silence broke : 

" O fairest of creation, last and best 
Of all God's works, creature in whom excelled 
Whatever can to sight or thought be formed, 
Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet, 
How art thou lost ! how on a sudden lost, 
Defaced, deflowered, and now to death devote 1 
Rather, how hast thou yielded to transgress 
The strict forbiddance, how to violate 
The sacred fruit forbidden ! Some cursed fraud 
Of enemy hath beguiled thee, yet unknown, 
And me with thee hath ruined, for with thee 
Certain my resolution is to die ; 
How can I live without thee ? how forego 
Thy sweet converse and love so dearly joined, 
To live again in these wild woods forlorn ? 
Should God create another Eve, and I 
Another rib afford, yet loss of thee 
Would never from my heart ; no, no ! I feel 
The link of nature draw me ; flesh of flesh, 
Bone of my bone thou art, and from thy state 
Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe." 

So having said, as one from sad dismay 
Recomforted, and after thoughts disturbed 
Submitting to what seemed remediless. 
Thus in calm mood his words to Eve he turned : 

" Bold deed thou hast presumed, adventurous Eve, 
And peril great provoked, who thus hast dared, 
Had it been only coveting to eye 
That sacred fruit, sacred to abstinence ; 
Much more to taste it under ban to touch. 
But past who can recall, or done undo? 
Not God omnipotent, nor fate ; yet so 
Perhaps thou shalt not die, perhaps the fact 
Is not so heinous now, foretasted fruit. 
Profaned first by the serpent, by him first 
Made common and unhallowed ere our taste ; 
Nor yet on him found deadly ; he yet lives ; 
Lives, as thou saidst, and gains to live, as man, 



216 PARAJJISE LOST. 

Higher degree of life : inducement strong 

To us, as likely tasting to attain 

Proportional ascent, which cannot be 

But to be gods, or angels, demi-gods. 

Nor can I think that God, Creator wise, 

Though threatening, will in earnest so destroy 

Us his prime creatures, dignified so high, 

Set over all his works, which in our fall, 

For us created, needs with us must fail, 

Dependent made ; so God shall uncreate, 

Be frustrate, do, undo, and labour lose : 

Not well conceived of God, who, though his power 

Creation could repeat, yet would be loth 

Us to abolish, lest the adversary 

Triumph and say, ' Fickle their state whom God 

Most favours ; who can please him long ? Me first 

He ruined, now mankind ; whom will he next ? ' 

Matter of scorn, not to be given the foe. 

However, I with thee have fixed my lot, 

Certain to undergo like doom ; if death 

Consort with thee, death is to me as life ; 

So forcible within my heart I feel 

The bond of nature draw me to my own, 

My own in thee, for what thou art is mine ; 

Our state cannot be severed ; we are one. 

One flesh ; to lose thee were to lose myself." 

So Adam, and thus Eve to him replied : 
♦' O glorious trial of exceeding love. 
Illustrious evidence, example high ! 
Engaging me to emulate ; but, short 
Of thy perfection, how shall I attain, 
Adam, from whose dear side I boast me sprung ? 
And gladly of our union hear thee speak. 
One heart, one soul in both ; whereof good proof 
This day affords, declaring thee resolved. 
Rather than death, or aught than death more dread, 
Shall separate us, linked in love so dear. 
To undergo with me one guilt, one crimej 
If any be, of tasting this fair fruit, 
Whose virtue (for of good still good proceeds, 



PABADISB LOST. 217 

Direct, or by occasion) hath presented 

This happy trial of thy love, which else 

So eminently never had been known. 

Were it I thought death menaced would ensue 

This my attempt, I would sustain alone 

The worst, and not persuade thee ; rather die 

Deserted, than oblige thee with a fact 

Pernicious to thy peace, chiefly assured, 

Remarkably so late of thy so true, 

So faithful love unequalled : but I feel 

Far otherwise the event ; not death, but life 

Augmented, opened eyes, new hopes, new joys, 

Taste so divine, that what of sweet before 

Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this and harsh. 

On my experience, Adam, freely taste. 

And fear of death deliver to the winds." 

So saying, she embraced him, and for joy 
Tenderly wept ; much won, that he his love 
Had so ennobled, as of choice to incur 
Divine displeasure for her sake, or death. 
In recompense (for such compliance bad 
Such recompense best merits) from the bough 
She gave him of that fair enticing fruit 
With liberal hand : he scrupled not to eat, 
Against his better knowledge ; not deceived, 
But fondly overcome with female charm. 
Earth trembled from her entrails, as again 
In pangs, and nature gave a second groan ; 
Sky loured ; and, muttering thunder, some sad dropi 
Wept at completing of the mortal sin 
Original ; wliile Adam took no thought. 
Eating his fill, nor Eve to iterate 
Her former trespass feared, the more to soothe 
Him with her loved society ; that now, 
As with new wine intoxicated both. 
They swim in mirth, and fancy that they feel 
Divinity within them breeding wings 
Wherewith to scorn the earth : but that false fruit 
Far other operation first displayed. 
Carnal desire inflaming ; he on Eve 



218 TAAADISB LOST. 

Began to cast lascivaous eyes, she him 
As wantonly repaid ; in lust they burn : 
Till Adam thus 'gan Eve to dalliance move : 

" Eve, now I see thou art exact of taste, 
And elegant, of sapience no small part. 
Since to each meaning savour we apply, 
And palate call judicious : I the praise 
Yield thee, so well this day thou hast purveyed. 
Much pleasure we have lost, while we abstained 
E'rom this delightful fruit, nor known till now 
True relish, tasting ; if such pleasure be 
In things to us forbidden, it might be wished 
For this one tree had been forbidden ten. 
But come, so well refreshed, now let us play, 
As meet is, after such delicious fare ; 
For never did thy beauty, since the day 
I saw thee first and wedded thee, adorned 
With all perfections, so inflame my sense 
With ardour to enjoy thee, fairer now 
Than ever, bounty of this virtuous tree." 

So said he, and forbore not glance or toy 
Of amorous intent, well understood 
Of Eve, whose eye darted contagious fire. 
Her hand he seized, and to a shady bank. 
Thick over-head with verdant roof embowered, 
He led her nothing loth ; flowers were the couch 
Pansies, and violets, and asphodel, 
And hyacinth, earth's freshest, softest lap. 
There they their fill of love and love's disport 
Took largely, of their mutual guilt the seal. 
The solace of their sin ; till dewy sleep 
Oppressed them, wearied with their amorous play. 

Soon as the force of that fallacious fruit. 
That with exhilarating vapour bland 
About their spirits had played, and inmost powers 
Made err, was now exhaled ; and grosser sleep. 
Bred of unkindly fumes, with conscious dreams 
Encumbered, now had left them ; up they rose 
As from unrest, and each the other viewing. 
Soon found their eyes how opened, and their minda 



PARADISE LOST. 219 

How darkened ; innocence, that as a veil 

Had shadowed them from knowing ill, was gone, 

Just confidence, and native righteousness, 

And honour from about them, naked left 

To guilty shame ; he covered, but his robe 

Uncovered more. So rose the Danite strong, 

Herculean Samson, from the harlot-lap 

Of Philistean Dalilah, and waked 

Shorn of his strength ; they destitute and bare 

Of all their virtue : silent, and in face 

Confounded, long they sat, as strucken mute ; 

Till Adam, though not less than Eve abashed, 

At length gave utterance to these words constrained : 

" O Eve ! in evil hour thou didst give ear 
To that false worm, of whomsoever taught 
To counterfeit man's voice, true in our fall, 
False in our promised rising ; since our eyes 
Opened we find indeed, and find we know 
Both good and evil ; good lost, and evil got : 
Bad fruit of knowledge, if this be to know, 
Which leaves us naked thus, of honour void, 
Of innocence, of faith, of purity, 
Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. 
And in our faces evident the signs 
Of foul concupiscence ; whence evil store ; 
Even shame, the last of evils ; of the first 
Be sure then. He shall I behold the face 
Henceforth of God or angel, erst with joy 
And rapture so oft beheld ? those heavenly shapei 
Will dazzle now this earthly with their blaze 
Insufferably bright. Oh ! might I here 
In solitude live savage, in some glade 
Obscured, where highest woods, impenetrable 
To star or sunlight, spread their umbrage broad 
And brown as evening : cover me, ye pines I 
Ye cedars, with innumerable boughs 
Hide me, where I may never see them more I 
But let us now, as in bad plight, devise 
What best may for the present serve to hide 
The parts of each from other, that seem moat 



220 PABADISB LOST. 

To shame obnoxious, and unseemliest seen ; 
Some tree, whose broad smooth leaves together se^ed, 
And girded on our loins, may cover round 
Those middle parts, that this new comer, shame, 
There sit not, and reproach us as unclean." 
So counselled he, and both together went 
Into the thickest wood ; there soon they chose 
The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renowned, 
But such as at this day to Indians known 
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms 
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow 
About the mother tree, a pillared shade 
High overarched, and echoing walks between ; 
There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat. 
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds 
At loopholes cut through thickest shade : those leaves 
They gathered, broad as Amazonian targe. 
And, with what skill they had, together sewed, 
To gird their waist : vain covering, if to hide 
Their guilt and dreaded shame ! Oh, how unlike 
To that first naked glory ! Such of late 
Columbus found the American, so girt 
With feathered cincture, naked else and wild 
Among the trees on isles and woody shores. 
Thus fenced, and as they thought, their shame in part 
Covered, but at not rest or ease of mind. 
They sat them down to weep ; nor only tears 
Rained at their eyes, but high winds worse within 
Began to rise, high passions, anger, hate. 
Mistrust, suspicion, discord ; and shook sore 
Their inward state of mind, calm region once 
And full of peace, now tossed and turbulent; 
For understanding ruled not, and the will 
Heard not her lore, both in subjection now 
To sensual appetite, who from beneath 
Usurping over sovran reason claimed 
Superior sway. From thus distempered breaat, 
Adam, estranged in look and altered style, 
Speech intermitted thus to Eve renewed : 



PARADISE LOST. 221 

" Would thou hadst hearkened to my words, and stayed 
With me, as I besouglit thee, when that strange 
Desire of wandering, this unhappy morn, 
I know not whence possessed thee ; we had then 
Remained still happy, not as now, despoiled 
Of all our good, shamed, naked, miserable. 
Let none henceforth seek needless cause to approve 
The faith they owe ; when earnestly they seek 
Such proof, conclude, they then begin to fail." 

To whom, soon moved with touch of blame, thus Eve : 
" What words have passed thy lips ? Adam severe, 
Iraput'st thou that to my default, or will 
Of wandering, as thou call'st it, which, who knows 
But might as ill have happened thou being by. 
Or to thyself, perhaps ? Hadst thou been there, 
Or here the attempt, thou couldst not have discerned 
Fraud in the serpent, speaking as he spake ; 
'No ground of enmity between us known, 
Why he should mean me ill, or seek to harm ? 
Was I to have never parted from thy side ? 
As good have grown there still a lifeless rib. 
Being as I am, why didst not thou, the head, 
Command me absolutely not to go, 
Going into such danger as thou saidst ? 
Too facile then, thou didst not much gainsay, 
Nay, didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss. 
Hadst thou been firm and fixed in thy dissent. 
Neither had I transgressed, nor thou with me." 
To whom, then first incensed, Adam replied : 
*' Is this the love, is this the recompense 
Of mine to thee, ungrateful Eve ! expressed 
Immutable when thou wert lost, not I, 
Who might have lived and joyed immortal bliss, 
Yet willingly chose rather death with thee ? 
And am I now upbraided as the cause 
Of thy transgressing? Not enough severe, 
It seems, in thy restraint : what could I more ? 
I warned thee, I admonished thee, foretold 
The danger, and the lurking enemy 
That lay in wait ; beyond this had been force, 



222 PARADISE LOST. 

And force upon free will hath here no place 
But confidence then bore thee on, secure 
Either to meet no danger, or to find 
Matter of glorious trial ; and perhaps 
I also erred in overmuch admiring 
What seemed in thee so perfect, that I thought 
No evil durst attempt thee ; but I rue 
That error now, which is become my crime, 
And thou the accuser. Thus it shall befall 
Ilim who, to worth in woman overtrusting, 
Let" her will rule ; restraint she will not brook ; 
And, left to herself, if evil thence ensue, 
She first his weak indulgence will accuse." 
Thus they in mutual accusation spent v 
The fruitless hours, but neither self condemning, 
And of their vain contest appeared no end. 



PARADISE LOST. 223 



BOOK X. 



THE ARGUMEN^T. 

Man's transgression known, the guardian angels forsake Paradise, 
and return up to Heaven to approve their vigilance, and are ap- 
proved; God deelaring that the entrance of Satan could not by 
thera be prevented. He sends liis Son to judge the transgressors, 
Avlio descends, and gives sentence accordingly; then in pity clothes 
them lioth, and reascends. Sin and Death, sitting till then at the 
gates of Hell, by wondrous sympathy feeling the success of Satan 
in this new world, and the sin liy man there committed, resolve to 
sit no longer confined in Hell, but to follow Satan, their sire, up 
to the place of man. To make the way easier from Hell to this 
world, to and fro, they pave a broad highway or bridge over Chaos, 
according to the track that Satan first made; then preparing for earth, 
they meet him, proud of his success, returning to Hell; their mutual 
gratulation. Satan arrives at Pandemonium; in full assembly relates 
his success against man ; instead of applause is treated with a general hies 
by all his audience, transformed with himself also suddenly into ser- 
jieuts, according to his doom given in Paradise; then deluded with a 
show of the forbidden tree springing up before them, they, greedily 
reaching to take off the fruits, chew dust and bitter ashes. The proceed- 
ings of Sin and Death; God foretells the final victory of his Son over 
them, and the renewing of all things; but for the present commands his 
angels to make several alterations in the heavens and elements. Adam 
more and more perceiving his fallen condition, heavily bewails, rejects 
the condolement of Eve; she persists, and at length appeases him; then, 
to evade the cnrse likely to fall on their offspring, projioses to Adam vio- 
lent ways, which he approves not, but, conceiving better hope, piits her 
in mind of the late promise made them, that her seed should be revenged 
on the serpent, and exhorts her with him to seek peace of the offended 
Deity, by repentance and supplication. 

Meanwhile the heinous and despiteful act 

Of Satan done in Paradise, and how 

He, in the serpent, had perverted Eve, 

Her husband she, to taste the fatal fruit, 

Was known in Heaven ; for what can 'scape the eye 

Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart 

Omniscient ? who, in all things wise and just, 

Hindered not Satan to attempt the mind 

Of man, with strength entire, and free-will armed, 



224 PAEADIBE LOST. 

Complete to have discovered and repulsed 

WTiatever wiles of foe or seeming friend. 

For still they knew, and ought to have still remembered 

The high injunction not to taste that fruit, 

"Whoever tempted ; which they not obeying, 

Incurred (what could th^y less?) the penalty, 

And, manifold in sin, deserved to fall. 

Up into Heaven from Paradise in haste 

The angelic guards ascended, mute and sad 

For man, for of his state by this they knew. 

Much wondering how the subtle fiend had stolen 

Entrance unseen. Soon as the unwelcome news 

From earth arrived at Heaven-gate, displeased 

All were who heard ; dim sadness did not spare 

That time celestial visages, yet, mixed 

With pity, violated not their bliss. 

About the new-arrived, in multitudes 

The ethereal people ran, to hear and know 

How all befell : they towards the throne supreme 

Accountable made haste to make appear 

With righteous plea their utmost vigilance, 

And easily approved ; when the most High, 

Eternal Father, from his secret cloud. 

Amidst in thunder uttered thus his voice : 

" Assembled angels, and ye powers returned , 
From unsuccessful charge, be not dismayed 
Nor troubled at these tidings from the earth, 
Which your sincerest care could not prevent, 
Foretold so lately what would come to pass. 
When first this tempter crossed the gulf from Hell. 
I told ye then he should prevail and speed 
On his bad errand, man should be seduced 
And flattered out of all, believing lies 
Against his Maker ; no decree of mine 
Concurring to necessitate his fall, 
Or touch with lightest moment of impulse 
His free will, to her own inclining left 
In even scale. But fallen he is, and now 
What rests, but that the mortal sentence pass 
On his trangression, death denounced that day? 



PARADISE LOST. 225 

Wliich he presumes already vain and void, 

Because not yet inflicted, as he feared, 

Bv some immediate stroke ; but soon shall find 

Forbearance no acquittance ere day end. 

Justice shall not return as bounty scorned. 

But whom send I to judge them ? whom but thee, 

Viceregent Son ? To thee I have transferred 

All judgment whether in Heaven, or Earth, or Hell. 

Easy it may be seen that I intend 

Mercy colleague with justice, sending thee 

Man's friend, his Mediator, his designed 

Both ransom and Redeemer voluntary. 

And destined man himself to judge man fallen." 

So spake the Father, and unfolding bright 
Toward the right hand his glory, on the Son 
Blazed forth unclouded Deity; he full 
Resplendent all his Father manifest 
Expressed, and thus divinely answered mild : 

" Father eternal, thine is to decree. 
Mine both in Heaven and earth to do thy will 
Supreme, that thou in me thy Son beloved 
Mayst ever rest well pleased, I go to judge 
On earth these thy trangressors ; but thou know'st, 
Whoever judged, the worst on me must light, 
When time shall be, for so I undertook 
Before thee ; and not repenting, this obtain 
Of rigl't, that I may mitigate their doom 
On me derived ; yet I shall temper so 
Justice with mercy, as may illustrate most 
Them fully satisfied, and thee appease. 
Attendance none shall need, nor train, where none 
Are to behold the judgment, but the judged. 
Those two ; the third best absent is condemned, 
Convict by flight, and rebel to all law : 
Conviction to the serpent none belongs." 

Thus saying, from his radiant seat he rose 
Of high collateral glory : him thrones and powers. 
Princedoms, and dominations ministrant. 
Accompanied to Heaven-gate, from whence 
Eden and all the coast in prospect lay. 

15 



226 PARADISE LOST. 

Do\m he descended straight ; the speed of gods 

Time counts not, though with swiftest minutes winged. 

Now was the sun in western cadence low 

From noon, and gentle airs, due at their hour, 

To fan the earth now waked, and usher in 

The evening cool, when he, from wrath more cool, 

Came the mild Judge and Intercessor both. 

To sentence man : the voice of God they heard 

Now walking in the garden, by soft winds 

Brought to their ears, while day declined ; they heard, 

And from his presence hid themselves among 

The thickest trees, both man and wife ; till God, 

Approaching, thus to Adam called aloud : 

" Where art thou, Adam, wont with joy to meet 
My coming seen far off ? I miss thee here. 
Not pleased, thus entertained with solitude, 
Where obvious duty erewhile appeared unsought : 
Or come I less conspicuous, or what change 
Absents thee, or what chance detains? Come forth ! " 

He came, and with him Eve, more loth, though first 
To offend; discountenanced both, and discomposed; 
Love was not in their looks, either to God 
Or to each other, but a])parent guilt. 
And shame, and perturbation, and despair, 
Anger and obstinacy, and hate and guile. 
Whence Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief : 

" I heard thee in the garden, and of thy voice 
Afraid, being naked, hid myself." To whom 
The gracious Judge without revile replied : 

" My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not feared, 
But still rejoiced ; how is it now become 
So dreadful to thee ? That thou art naked, who 
Hath told thee ? Hast thou eaten of the tree 
Whereof I gave thee charge thou shouldst not eat ? ** 

To whom thus Adam, sore beset, replied : 
*' O Heaven ! in evil strait this day I stand 
Before my Judge, either to undergo 
Myself the total crime, or to accuse 
My other self, the partner of my life ; 
Whose failing, while her faith to me remains, 



PARADISE LOST. 227 

[ should conceal, and not expose to blame 

By my complaint ; but strict necessity 

Subdues me, and calamitous constraint, 

Lest on my head both sin and punishment, 

However insupportable, be all 

Devolved ; though should I hold my peace, yet thoa 

Wouldst easily detect what I conceal. 

This woman, whom thou mad'st to be my help, 

And giv'st me as thy perfect gift so good. 

So fit, so acceptable, so divine. 

That from her hand I could suspect no ill, 

Aud what she did, whatever in itself, 

Her doing seemed to justify the deed : 

She gave me of the tree, and I did eat." 

To whom the sovran Presence thus replied : 
" Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey 
Before his voice ? or was she made thy guide, 
Superior, or but equal, that to her 
Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place 
Wherein God set thee above her made of thee, 
And for thee, whose perfection far oicelled 
Hers in all real dignity ? Adorned 
She was indeed, and lovely to attract 
Thy love, not thy subjection ; and her gifts 
Were such as under government well seemed; 
Unseemly to bear rule, which was thy part 
And person, hadst thou known thyself aright." 

So having said, he thus to Eve in few : 
" Say, woman, what is this which thou hast done ?" 

To whom sad Eve, with shame nigh overwhelmed, 
Confessing soon, yet not before her Judge 
Bold or loquacious, thus abashed replied : 
" The serpent me beguiled, and I did eat." 

Which when the Lord God heard, without delay 
To judgment he proceeded on the accused 
Serpent, though brute, unable to transfer 
The guilt on him who made him instrument 
Of mischief, and polluted from the end 
Of his creation, justly then accursed, 
As vitiated in nature : more to know 



228 PABADISB LOST. 

Concerned not man (since he no further knew), 
Nor altered his offence ; yet God at last 
To Satan, first in sin, his doom applied, 
Though in mysterious terms, judged as then best ; 
And on the serpent thus his curse let fall : 

" Because thou hast done this, thou art accursed 
Above all cattle, each beast of the field ; 
Upon thy belly grovelling thou shalt go. 
And dust shalt eat all the days of thy life. 
Between thee and the woman I will put 
Enmity, and between thine and her seed ; 
Her seed shall bruise thy head, thou bruise his heel." 

So spake this oracle, then verified 
When Jesus, son of Mary, second Eve, 
Saw Satan fall like lightning down from Heaven, 
Prince of the air ; then rising from his grave, 
Spoiled principalities and powers, triumphed 
In open show, and with ascension bright 
Captivity led captive through the air. 
The realm itself of Satan long usurped, 
Whom he shall tread at last under our feet ; 
Even he, who now foretold his fatal bruise ; 
And to the woman thus his sentence turned : 

" Thy sorrow I will greatly multiply 
By thy conception ; children thou shalt bring 
In sorrow forth ; and to thy husband's will 
Thine shall submit : he over thee shall rule." 

On Adam last thus judgment he pronounced: 
" Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife. 
And eaten of the tree concerning which 
I charged thee, saying, ' Thou shalt not eat thereof,* 
Cursed is the ground for thy sake : thou in sorrow 
Shalt eat thereof all the days of thy life ; 
Thorns also, and thistles, it shall bring thee forth 
Un bid ; and thou shalt eat t)ie herb of the field ; 
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, 
Till thou return unto the ground ; for thou 
Out of the ground wast taken, know thy birth, 
For dust thou art, and shalt to dust return." 

So judged he man, both Judge and Saviour sent; 



PAEAD18K LOST, 229 

And the instant stroke of death, denounced that day, 

Removed far off ; then pitying how they stood 

Before him naked to the air, that now 

Must suffer change, disdained not to begin 

Thenceforth the form of servant to assume, 

As when he washed his servants' feet ; so now, 

As father of his family, he clad 

Their nakedness with skins of beasts, or slain, 

Or as the snake with youthful coat repaid ; 

And thought not much to clothe his enemies : 

Nor he their outward only with the skins 

Of beasts ; but inward nakedness, much more 

Opprobrious, with his robe of righteousness 

Arraying, covered from his Father's sight. 

To him with swift ascent he uj^ returned. 

Into his blissful bosom reassumed 

In glory as of old ; to him appeased. 

All, though all-knowing, what had passed with man 

Recounted, mixing intercession sweet. 

Meanwhile, ere thus was sinned and judged on earth, 
Within the gates of Hell sat Sin and Death, 
In counterview within the gates, that now 
Stood open wide, belching outrageous flame 
Far into Chaos, since the Fiend passed through. 
Sin opening ; who thus now to Death began : 

" O son, why sit we here each other viewing 
Idly, while Satan our great author thrives 
In other worlds, and happier seat provides 
For us his offspring dear ? It cannot be 
But that success attends him ; if mishap, 
Ere this he had returned, with fury driven 
By his avengers, since no place like this 
Can fit his punishment, or their revenge. 
Methinks I feel new strength within me rise, 
"VVings growing, and dominion given me largo 
Beyond this deep ; whatever draws me oa, 
Or sympathy, or some connatural force, 
Powerful at greatest distance to unite 
With secret amity things of like kind 
By secretest conveyance. Thou, my shade 



230 PARADISE LOST. 

Inseparable, must with me along ; 
For Death from Sin no power can sej)arate. 
But lest the difficulty of passing back 
Stay his return pex-haps over this gulf 
Impassable, impervious, let us try 
Adventurous work, yet to thy power and mine 
Not unagreeable, to found a path 
Over this main from Hell to that new world 
Where Satan now prevails ; a monument 
Of merit high to all the infernal host, 
Easing their passage hence, for intercourse, 
Or transmigration, as their lot shall lead. 
Nor can I miss the way, so strongly drawn 
By this new-felt attraction and instinct." 

"Whom thus the meagre shadow answered soon : 
" Go whither fate and inclination strong 
Lead thee ; I shall not lag behind, nor err 
The way, thou leading ; such a scent I draw 
Of carnage, prey innumerable, and taste 
The savour of death from all things there that live * 
Nor shall I to the work thou enterprisest 
Be wanting, but afford thee equal aid." 

So saying, with delight he snuffed the smell 
Of mortal change on earth. As when a flock 
Of ravenous fowl, though many a league remote, 
Against the day of battle, to a field 
Where armies lie encamped, come flying, lured 
With scent of living carcasses designed 
For death, the following day, in bloody fight: 
So scented the grim feature, and upturned 
His nostril wide into the murky air. 
Sagacious of his quarry from so far. 
Then both from out Hell-gates into the waste 
Wide anarchy of Chaos, damp and dark. 
Flew diverse ; and with power (their power was great) 
Hovering upon the waters, what they met 
Solid or flimsy, as in raging sea 
Tossed up and down together, crowded drove 
From each side shoaling towards the mouth of Hell : 
As when two polar winds, blowing adverse 



PABADISK LOST. 231 

Upon the Cronian sea, together drive 

Mountains of ice, that stop the imagined way 

Beyond Petsora eastward, to the rich 

Cathaian coast. The aggregated soil 

Death, with his raace petrific, cold and dry, 

As with a trident smote, and fixed as firm 

As Delos floating once ; the rest his look 

Bound with Gorgonian rigour not to move ; 

And with asphaltic slime, broad as the gate, 

Deep to the roots of Hell the gathered beach 

They fastened, and the mole immense wrought on 

Over the foaming deep high arched, a bridge 

Of length prodigious, joining to the wall 

Immoveable of this now senseless world 

Forfeit to Death ; from hence a passage broad, 

Smooth, easy, inoffensive, down to Hell. 

So, if great things to small may be compared, 

Xerxes, the liberty of Greece to yoke, 

From Susa, his Memnonian palace high, 

Came to the sea, and, over Hellespont 

Bridging his way, Europe with Asia joined. 

And "scourged with many a stroke the indignant waves. 

Now had they brought the work by wondrous art 

Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock, 

Over the vexed abyss, following the track 

Of Satan to the self-same place where he 

First lighted from his wing, and landed safe 

From out of Chaos, to the outside bare 

Of this round world : with pins of adamant 

And chains they made all fast, too fast they made, 

And durable ; and now in little space 

The confines met of empyrrean Heaven, 

And of this world ; and, on the left hand, Hell 

With long reach interposed ; three several ways 

In sight, to each of these three places led. 

And now their way to earth they had descried, 

To Paradise first tending, when behold 

Satan, in likeness of an angel bright, 

Betwixt the Centaur and the Scorpion steering 

His zenith, while the sun in Aries rose : 



232 PARADISE LOST. 

Disguised he came, but those his children dear 
Their parent soon discerned, though in disguise. 
He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk 
Into the wood fast by ; and, changing shape 
To observe the sequel, saw his guileful act 
By Eve, though all unweeting, seconded 
Upon her husband, saw their shame that sought 
Vain covertures ; but when he saw descend 
The Son of God to judge them, terrified 
He fled, not hoping to escape, but shun 
The present, fearing guilty what his wrath 
Might suddenly inflict ; that past, returned 
By night, and listening where the hapless pair 
Sat in their sad discourse, and various plaint, 
Thence gathered his own doom, which understood 
Not instant, but of future time, with joy 
And tidings fraught, to Hell he now returned ; 
And at the brink of Chaos, near the foot 
Of this new wondrous pontifice, unhoped 
Met who to meet him came, his offspring dear. 
Great joy was at their meeting, and at sight 
Of that stupendous bridge his joy increased. 
Long he admiring stood, till Sin, his fair 
Enchanting daughter, thus the silence broke : 

" O parent, these are thy magnific deeds, 
Thy trophies, which thou view'st as not thine own ; 
Thou art their author and prime architect : 
For I no sooner in my heart divined. 
My heart, which by a secret harmony 
Still moves with thine, joined in connection sweet. 
That thou on earth hadst prospered, which thy looki 
Now also evidence, but straight I felt. 
Though distant from thee worlds between, yet felt 
That 1 must after thee with this thy son, 
Such fatal consequence unites us three : 
Hell could not longer hold us in her bounds, 
Nor this unvoyageable gulf obscure 
Detain from following thy illustrious track. 
Thou hast achicA^ed our liberty, confined 
Within Hell-gates till now, thou us empowered 



PABADI8E LOST. 238 

To fortify thus far, and overlay 

With this portentous bridge the dark abyss. 

Thine now is all this world ; thy virtue hath won 

What thy hands builded not, thy wisdom gained 

With odds what war hath lost, and fully avenged 

Our foil in Heaven ; here thou shalt monarch reign, 

There didst not ; there let him still victor sway, 

As battle hath adjudged, from this new world 

Retiring, by his own doom alienated ; 

And henceforth monarchy with thee divide, 

Of all things parted by the empyreal bounds, 

His quadrature, from thy orbicular world. 

Or try thee now more dangerous to his throne." 

Whom thus the prince of darkness answered glad : 
" Fair daughter, and thou son and grandchild both, 
High proof ye now have given to be the race 
Of Satan (for I glory in the name, 
Antagonist of Heaven's almighty King) ; 
Amply have merited of me, of all 
The infernal empire, that so near Heaven's door 
Triumphal with triumphal act have met. 
Mine, with this glorious work, and made one realm 
Hell and this world, one realm, one continent 
Of easy thoroughfare. Therefore, while I 
Descend through darkness, on your road with ease, 
To my associate powers, them to acquaint 
With these successes, and with them rejoice ; 
You two this way, among these numerous orbs 
All yours, right down to Paradise descend ; 
There dwell and reign in bliss, thence on the earth 
Dominion exercise, and in the air, 
Chiefly on man, sole lord of all declared ; 
Him first make sure your thrall, and lastly kill. 
My substitutes I send ye, and create 
Plenipotent on earth, of matchless might 
Issuing from me : on your joint vigour now 
My hold of this new kingdom all depends, 
Through Sin to Death exposed by my exploit. 
If your joint power prevail, the affairs of Hell 
No detriment need fear ; go, and be strong." 



234 PABADISK LOST. 

So saying, he dismissed them ; they with speed 
Their course through thickest consteUations held, 
Spreading their bane ; the blasted stars looked wan. 
And planets, plant-struck, real eclipse 
Then suffered. The other way Satan went down 
The causey to Hell gate ; on either side 
Disparted Chaos, over built, exclaimed, 
And with rebounding surge the bars assailed. 
That scorned his indignation ; through the gate, 
Wide open and unguarded, Satan passed, 
And all about found desolate ; for those 
Appointed to sit there, had left their charge, 
Flown to the upper world ; the rest were all 
Far to the inland retired, about the walls 
Of Pandemonium, city and proud seat 
Of Lucifer, so by allusion called. 
Of that bright star to Satan paragoned. 
There kept their watch the' legions, while the grand 
In council sat, solicitous what chance 
Might intercept their emperor sent ; so he. 
Departing, gave command, and they observed. 
As when the Tartar from his Russian foe, 
By Astracan, over the snowy plains 
Retires ; or Bactrian Sophi, from the horns 
Of Turkish crescent, leaves all waste beyond 
The realm of Aladule, in his retreat 
To Tauris or Casbeen : so these, the late 
Heaven-banished host, left desert utmost Hell 
Many a dark league, reduced in careful watch 
Round their metropolis, and now expecting 
Each hour their great adventurer from the search 
Of foreign worlds ; he through the midst unmarked, 
In show plebeian angel militant 
Of lowest order, passed ; and from the door 
Of that Plutonian hall, invisible 
Ascended his high throne, which, under state 
Of richest texture spread, at the upper end 
Was placed in regal lustre. Down a while 
He sat, and round about him saw unseen : 
At last, as from a cloud, his fulgent head 



PARADISE LOST. 2B6 

And shape star-bright appeared, or brighter, clad 
With what permissive glory since his fall 
Was left him, or false glitter ; all amazed 
At that so sudden blaze the Stygian throng 
Bent their aspect, and whom they wished beheld, 
Their mighty chief returned : loud was the acclaim : 
Forth rush'd in haste the great consulting peers, 
Raised from their dark divan, and with like joy 
Congratulant approached him, who with hand 
Silence, and with these words attention, won : 

" Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers, 
For in possession such, not only of right, 
I call ye and declare ye now ; returned 
Successful heyond hope, to lead ye forth 
Triumphant out of this infernal pit 
Abominable, accursed, the house of woe, 
And dungeon of our tyrant : now possess, 
As lords, a spacious world, to our native Heaven 
Little inferior, by my adventure hard 
With peril great achieved. Long were to tell 
What I have done, what suffered, with what pain 
Voyaged the unreal, vast, unbounded deep 
Of horrible confusion, over which 
By Sin and Death a broad way now is paved 
To expedite your glorious march ; but I 
Toiled out my uncouth passage, forced to ride 
The untractable abyss, plunged in the womb 
Of unoriginal night and Chaos wild, 
That, jealous of their secrets, fiercely opposed 
My journey strange, with clamorous uproar 
Protesting Fate supreme ; thence how I found 
The new-created world, which fame in Heaven 
Long had foretold, a fabric wonderful 
Of absolute perfection, therein man 
Placed in a Paradise, by our exile 
Made happy : him by fraud I have seduced 
From his Creator, and the more to increase 
Your wonder, with an apple ; He, thereat 
Offended (worth your laughter), hath given up 
Both his beloved man and all his world, 



236 PABADISB LOST. 

To Sin and Death a prey, and so to us, 

Without our hazard, labour, or alarm, 

To range Ln, and to dwell, and over man 

To rule, as over all he should have ruled. 

True is, me also he hath judged, or rather 

Me not, but the brute serpent in whose shape 

Man I deceived : that which to me belongs, 

Is enmity, which he will put between 

Me and mankind ; I am to bruise his heel ; 

His seed (when, is not set) shall bruise my head : 

A world who would not purchase with a bruise. 

Or much more grevious pain ? Ye have the accouni 

Of my performance : what remains, ye gods, 

But up and enter now into full bliss ? " 

So having said, a while he stood, expecting 
Their universal shout and high applause 
To fill his ear ; when, contrary, he hears 
On all sides, from innumerable tongues, 
A dismal universal hiss, the sound 
Of public scorn : he wondered, but not long 
Had leisure, wondering at himself now more ; 
His visage drawn he felt to sharp and spare. 
His arms clung to his ribs, his legs intwining 
Each other, till supplanted down he fell 
A monstrous serpent on his belly prone. 
Reluctant, but in vain ; a greater power 
Now ruled him, punished in the shape he sinned, 
According to his doom : he would have spoke. 
But hiss for hiss returned with forked tongue 
To forked tongue, for now were all transformed 
Alike, to serpents all, as accessories 
To his bold riot : dreadful was the din 
Of hissing through the hall, thick swarming now 
With complicated monsters head and taU, 
Scorpion, and asp, and amphisbaena dire. 
Cerastes horned, hydrus, and elops drear. 
And dipsas (not so thick swarmed once the soil 
Bedropped with blood of Gorgon, or the isle 
Ophiusa) ; but still greatest he the midst. 
Now dragon grown, larger than whom the sun 



PABADI8K LOST. 237 

Engendered in the Pythian vale on slime, 

Huge Python, and his power no less he seemed 

Above the rest still to retain ; they all 

Him followed, issuing forth to the open field, 

Where all yet left of the revolted rout. 

Heaven-fallen, in station stood or just array, 

Sublime with expectation, when to see 

In triumph issuing forth their glorious chief ; 

They saw, but other sight instead ! a crowd 

Of ugly serpents : horror on them fell. 

And horrid sympathy ; for what they saw. 

They felt themselves now changing ; down their arms, 

Down fell both spear and shield, down they as fast, 

And the dire hiss renewed, and the dire form 

Catched by contagion, like in punishment. 

As in their crime. Thus was the applause they meant 

Turned to exploding hiss, triumph to shame 

Cast on themselves from their own mouths. There 

stood 
A grove hard by, sprung up with this their change, 
His will who reigns above, to aggravate 
Their penance, laden with fair fruit, like that 
Which grew in Paradise, the bait of Eve 
Used by the tempter : on that prospect strange 
Their earnest eyes they fixed, imagining 
For one forbidden tree a multitude 
Now risen, to work them further woe or shame ; 
Yet, parched with scalding thirst and hunger fierce. 
Though to delude them sent, could not abstain, 
But on they rolled in heaps, and up the trees 
Climbing, sat thicker than the snaky locks 
That curled Megtera ; greedily they plucked 
The fruitage fair to sight, like that which grew 
Near that bituminous lake where Sodom flamed; 
This, more delusive, not the touch but taste 
Deceived ; they, fondly thinking to allay 
Their appetite with gust, instead of fruit 
Chewed bitter ashes, which the offended taste 
With spattering noise rejected : oft they assayed. 
Hunger and thirst constraining ; drugged as oft. 



238 PARADISE LOST. 

With hatefullest disrelish writhed their jaws 

With soot and cinders filled ; so oft they fell 

Into the same illusion, not as man 

Whom they triumphed once lapsed. Thus were they 

plagued 
And worn with famine, long and ceaseless hiss, 
Till their lost shape, permitted, they resumed ; 
Yearly enjoined, some say, to undergo 
This annual humbling certain numbered days, 
To dash their pride, and joy for man seduced. 
However, some tradition they disj)ersed 
Among the heathen of their purchase got. 
And fabled how the serpent, whom they called 
Ophion, with Eurynome, the wide 
Encroaching Eve, perhaps, had first the rule 
Of high Olympus, thence by Saturn driven, 
And Ops, ere yet Dictffian Jove was born. 

Meanwhile in Paradise "the hellish pair 
Too soon arrived ; Sin, there in power before, 
Once actual, now in body, and to dwell 
Habitual habitant ; behind her Death 
dose following pace for pace, not mounted yet 
On his pale horse : to whom Sin thus began : 

" Second of Satan sprung, all-conquering Death, 
What think'st thou of our empire now ; though earned 
With travel difiicult, not better far 
Than still at Hell's dark threshold to have sat watch, 
Unnamed, undreaded, and thyself half-starved ? " 

Whom thus the Sin-born monster answered soon : 
" To me, who with eternal famine pine, 
Alike is Hell, or Paradise, or Heaven ; 
There best, where most with ravine I may meet ; 
Which here, though plenteous, all too little seems 
To stuff this maw, this vast unhide-bound corps." 

To whom the incestuous mother thus replied : 
" Thou, therefore, on these herbs, and fruits, and flower*, 
Feed first, on each beast next, and fish, and fowl, 
No homely morsels ; and whatever thing 
The scythe of Time mows down, devour unspared ; 
Till Ij in man residing, through the race, 



PARADISB LOST. 239 

His thoughta, his looks, words, actions all infect, 
And season hira thy last and sweetest prey." 
This said, they both betook them several ways, 
Both to destroy, or unimmortal make 
All kinds, and for destruction to mature 
Sooner or later ; which the Almighty seeing, 
From his transcendent seat the saints among. 
To those bright orders uttered thus his voice : 

" See with what heat these dogs of Hell advance 
To waste and havoc yonder world, which I 
So fair and good created, and had still 
Kept in that state, had not the folly of man 
Let in these wasteful furies, who impute 
Folly to me ; so doth the prince of Hell 
And his adherents, that with so much ease 
I suffer them to enter and jjossess 
A place so heavenly ; and conniving seem 
To gratify my scornful enemies, 
That laugh, as if, transported with some fit 
Of passion, I to them had quitted all. 
At random yielded up to their misrule ; 
And know not that I called and drew them thither, 
My Hell-hounds, to iick up the draff and filth 
Which man's polluting sin with taint hath shed 
On what was pure, till, crammed and gorged nigh burst 
"With sucked and glutted offal, at one sling 
Of thy victorious arm, well-pleasing Son, 
Both Sin, and Death, and yawing grave, at last 
Through Chaos hurled, obstruct the mouth of Hell 
For ever, and seal up his ravenous jaws. 
Then Heaven and earth, renewed, shall be made pure 
To sanctity that shall receive no stain : 
Till then the curse pronounced on both precedes." 

He ended, and the heavenly audience loud 
Sang hallelujah, as the sound of seas, 
Through multitude that sung : " Just are thy wayi, 
Righteous are thy decrees on all thy works ; 
Who can extenuate thee ?" Next, to the Son, 
" Destined Restorer of mankind, by whom 
New Heaven and earth shall to the ages rise, 



240 PARADISE LOST 

Or down from heaven descend." Such was their song; 

While the Creator, calling forth by name 
His mighty angels, gave them several charge, 
As sorted best with present things. The sun 
Had first his precept so to move, so sliine. 
As might affect the earth with cold and heat 
Scarce tolerable ; and from the north to call 
Decrepit winter ; from the south to bring 
Solstitial summer's heat. To the blank moon 
Her office they prescribed : to the other five 
Their planetary motions and aspects. 
In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite 
Of noxious efficacy ; and when to join 
In sjTiod unbenign : and taught the fixed 
Their influence malignant when to shower ; 
Which of them, rising with the sun, or falling, 
Should prove tempestuous. To the winds they set 
Their corners ; when with bluster to confound 
Sea, air, and shore ; the thunder when to roll 
With terror through the dark aerial hall. 
Some say he bid his angels turn askance 
The poles of earth twice ten degrees and more 
From the sun's axle ; they with labour pushed 
Oblique the centric globe : some say the sun 
Was bid turn reins from the equinoctial road 
Like distant breadth to Taurus, with the seven 
Atlantic Sisters, and the Spartan Twins, 
Up to the Tropic Crab ; thence down amain 
By Leo, and the Virgin, and the Scales, 
As deep as Capricorn, to bring in change 
Of seasons to each clime ; else had the spring 
Perpetual smiled on earth with vernant flowers, 
Equal in days and nights, except to those 
Beyond the poler circles ; to them day 
Had unbenighted shone, while the low sun, 
To recompense his distance, in their sight 
Had rounded still the horizon, and not known 
Or east, or west, which had forbid the snow 
From cold Estotiland, and south as far 
Beneath Magellan. At that tasted fruit 



PARADISK LOST. 241 

The sun, as from Thyestean banquet, turned 

His course intended ; else how liad the world 

Inhabited, though sinless, niore than now, 

Avoided pinching cold and scorching heat ? 

These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced 

Like change on sea and land ; sideral blast, 

Vapour, and mist, and exhalation hot, 

Corrupt and pestilent : now from the north 

Of Norumbega, and the Saraoed shore. 

Bursting their brazen dungeon, armed with ice, 

And snow, and hail, and stormy gust, and flaw ; 

Boreas, and C»cias, and Argestes loud. 

And Thrascias rend the woods, and seas iipturn ; 

With adverse blasts upturns them from the south, 

Notus, and Afer black with thunderous clouds 

From Serraliona; thwart of these, as fierce. 

Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent winds, 

Eurus and Zephyr, with their lateral noise, 

Sirocco and Libecchio. Thus began 

Outrage from lifeless things ; bixt Discord first. 

Daughter of Sin, among the irrational, 

Death introduced, through fierce antipathy : 

Beast now with beast 'gan war, and fowl with fowl. 

And fish with fish ; to graze the herb all leaving, 

Devoured each other ; nor stood much in awe 

Of man, but fled him, or with countenance grim 

Glared on him passing. These were, from without, 

The growing miseries, Avhich Adam saw 

Already in part, though hid in gloomiest shade, 

To sorrow abandoned ; but worse felt within. 

And, in a troubled sea of passion tossed, 

Thus to disburden sought with sad complaint : 

" Oh, miserable of happy ! is this the end 
Of this new gloi-ious world, and me so late 
The glory of that glory, who now become 
Accursed, of blessed ? Hide me from the face 
Of God, whom to behold was then my height 
Of happiness ! Yet well, if here would end 
The misery ; I deserved it, and would bear 
My own deservings : but this will not serve : 



242 PARADISE LOST. 

All that I eat or drink, or shall beget, 

Is propagated curse. Oh, voice once heard 

Delightfully, ' Increase and multiply,' 

Now death to hear ! for what can I increase 

Or multiply but curses on my head ? 

Who of all ages to succeed, but, feeling 

The evil on him brought by me, will curse 

My head ? ' 111 fare our ancestor impure ! 

For this we may thank Adam ; ' but his thanks 

Shall be the execration ; so besides 

Mine own that bide upon me, all from me 

Shall with a fierce reflux on me rebound ; 

On me, as on their natural centre light. 

Heavy, though in their place. O fleeting joys 

Of Paradise, dear bought with lasting woes ! 

Did I request thee. Maker, from my clay 

To mould me man ? did I solicit thee 

From darkness to promote me ? or here place 

In this delicious garden ? As my will 

Concurred not to my being, it were but right 

And equal to reduce me to my dust, 

Desirous to resign and render back 

All I received, unable to perform 

Thy terms too hard, by which I was to hold 

The good I sought not. To the loss of that, 

SuflScient penalty ! why hast thou added 

The sense of endless woes ? Inexplicable 

Thy justice seems ; yet, to say truth, too late 

I thus contest ; then should have been refused 

Those terms, whatever, when they were proposed : 

Thou didst accept them. Wilt thou enjoy the good, 

Then cavil the conditions ? and though God 

Made thee without thy leave, what if thy son 

Prove disobedient, and reproved, retort, 

' Wherefore didst thou beget me ? I sought it not : * 

Wouldst thou admit, for his contempt of thee, 

That proud excuse ? Yet him, not thy election, 

But natural necessity, begot. 

God made thee of choice his own, and of his own 

To serve him : thy reward was of his grace ; 



PASADISB LOST. 243 

Thy punishment then, justly, is at his will. 

Be it so, for I submit : his doom is fair ; 

That dust I am, and shall to dust return. 

welcome hour whenever ! Why delays 

His hand to execute what his decree 

Fixed on this day ? Why do I over-live ? 

Why am I mocked with death, and lengthened out 

To deathless pain ? How gladly would I meet 

Mortality my sentence, and be earth 

Insensible ! how glad would lay me down 

As in my mothei''s lap ! there I should rest 

And sleep secure : his dreadful voice no more 

Would thunder in my ears ; no fear of worse 

To me and to my offspring would torment me 

With cruel expectation. Yet one doubt 

Pursues me still, lest all I cannot die ; 

Lest that pure breath of life, the spirit of man 

Which God inspired, cannot together perish 

With this corporeal clod ; then in the grave, 

Or in some other dismal place, who knows 

But I shall die a living death ? thought 

Horrid, if true ! Yet why ? It was but breath 

Of life that sinned : what dies but what had life 

And sin ? The body properly had neither. 

All of me then shall die : let this appease 

The doubt, since human reach no further knows. 

For though the Lord of all be infinite, 

Is his wrath also ? Be it ; man is not so, 

But mortal doomed. How can he exercise 

Wrath without end on man whom death must end ? 

Can he make deathless death ? That were to make 

Strange contradiction, which to God himself 

Impossible is held, as argument 

Of weakness, not of power. Will he draw out, 

For anger's sake, finite to infinite 

In punished man, to satisfy his rigour 

Satisfied never ? That were to extend 

His sentence beyond dust and nature's law, 

By which all causes else according still 

To the reception of their matter act. 



244 PARADISE LOST. 

Not to the extent of their own spliere. But eay 
That death be not one stroke, as I supposed, 
'ioreaving sense, but endless misery 
i^'Vom this day onward, which I feel begun 
Both in me, and without me, and so last 
To perpetuity : ay me ! that fear 
Comes thundering back with dreadful revolution 
On my defenceless head ; both Death and I 
Am found eternal, and incorporate both : 
Nor I on my part single : in me all 
Posterity stands cursed. Fair patrimony 
That I must leave ye, sons. Oh ! were I able 
To waste it all myself, and leave ye none ! 
So disinherited, how would ye bless 
Me now your curse ! Ah ! why should all mankind 
For one man's fault thus guiltless be condemned, 
If guiltless ? But from me what can proceed, 
But all corrupt, both mind an<i will depraved. 
Not to do only, but to will the same 
With me ? How can they then acquitted stand 
In sight of God ? Him, after all disputes. 
Forced I absolve : all my evasions vain ; 
And reasonings, though through mazes, lead me still 
But to my own conviction : first and last 
On me, me only, as the source and spring 
Of all corruption, all the blame lights due ; 
So might the wrath ! Fond wish ! couldst thou support 
That burden heavier than the earth to bear, 
That all the world much heavier, though divided 
With that bad woman ? Thus what thou desir'st, 
And what thou fear'st, alike destroys all hope 
Of refuge, and concludes thee miserable 
Beyond all past example and future. 
To Satan only like both crime and doom. 

conscience ! into what abyss of fears 

And horrors hast thou driven me, out of which 

1 find no way, from deep to deeper plunged ! " 
Thus Adam to himself lamented loud, 

Through the still night ; not now, as ere man fell, 
Wholesome, and cool, and mild ; but with black air 



PAHADISK LOST. 246 

Accompanied, with damps and dreadful gloom, 

Which to his evil conscience represented 

All things with double terror : on the ground 

Outstretched he lay, on the cold ground, and oft 

Cursed his creation, death as oft accused 

Of tardy execution, since denounced 

The day of his offence. " Why comes not death," 

Said he, " with one thrice acceptable stroke 

To end me ? Shall truth fail to keep her word ? 

Justice divine not hasten to be just? 

But death comes not at call ; justice divine 

Mends not her slowest pace for prayers or cries. 

woods ! O fountains, hillocks, dales, and bowers I 
With other echo late I taught your shades 

To answer, and resound far other song." 

Whom thus afflicted, when sad Eve beheld, 
Desolate where she sat, approaching nigh. 
Soft words to his fierce passion she assayed ; 
But her with stern regard he thus repelled ; 

" Out of my sight, thou serpent ! that name best 
Befits thee with him leagued, thyself as false 
And hateful ; nothing wants but that thy shape, 
Like his, and colour serpentine, may show 
Thy inward fraud, to warn all creatures from thee 
Henceforth ; lest that too heavenly form pretended 
To hellish falsehood snare them. But for thee 

1 had persisted happy, had not thy pride 
And wandering vanity, when least was safe, 
Rejected my foi'ewarning, and disdained 
Not to be trusted, longing to be seen. 
Though by the devil himself, him overweening 
To over-reach, but with the serpent meeting 
Fooled and beguiled ; by him thou, I by thee; 
To trust thee from my side, imagined wise, 
Constant, mature, proof against all assaults ; 
And understood not all was but a show. 
Rather than solid virtue ; all but a rib, 
Crooked by nature ; bent, as now appears. 
More to the part sinister, from me drawn ; 
Well if thrown out, as supernumerary 



246 PARADISE LOST. 

To my just number found. Oh ! why did God, 

Creator wise, that peopled highest Heaven 

With spirits masculine, create at last 

This novelty on earth, this fair defect 

Of nature, and not fill the world at once 

With men, as angels, without feminine, 

Or find some other way to generate 

Mankind ? This mischief had not then befallen, 

And more that shall befall, innumerable 

Disturbances on earth through female snares. 

And strait conjunction with this sex : for either 

He never shall find out fit mate, but such 

As some misfortune brings him, or mistake ; 

Or whom he wishes most shall seldom gain 

Through her perverseness, but shall see her gained 

By a far worse, or if she love, withheld 

By parents ; or his happiest choice too late 

Shall meet, already linked and wedlock-bound 

To a fell adversary, his hate or shame ; 

Which infinite calamity shall cause 

To human life, and household peace confound." 

He added not, and from her turned ; but Eve, 
Not so repulsed, with tears that ceased not flowing, 
And tresses all disordered, at his feet 
Fell humble, and embracing them, besought 
His peace, and thus proceeded in her plaint : 

" Forsake me not thus, Adam ! witness Heaven 
What love sincere, and reverence in my heart 
I bear tliee, and unweeting have offended, 
Unhappily deceived ! Thy suppliant 
I beg, and clasp thy knees ; bereave me not. 
Whereon I live, thy gentle looks, thy aid, 
Thy counsel in this uttermost distress, 
My only strength and stay ; forlorn of thee, 
Whither shall I betake me, where subsist ? 
While yet we li\e, scarce one short hour perhaps. 
Between us two let there be peace, both joining, 
As joined in injuries, one enmity 
Against a foe by doom express assigned us. 
That cruel serpent : on me exercise not 



PAEADISE LOST 247 

Thy hatred for this misery befallen, 
On me already lost, me then thyself 
More miserable ; both have sinned, but thou 
Against God only, I against God and thee, 
And to the place of judgment will return. 
There with my cries importune Heaven, that all 
The sentence, from thy head removed, may light 
On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe. 
Me, me only, just object of his ire." 

She ended weeping, and her lowly plight, 
Immoveable till peace obtained from fault 
Acknowledged and deplored, in Adam wrought 
Commiseration ; soon his heart relented 
Towards her, his life so late, and sole delight, 
Now at his feet submissive in distress. 
Creature so fair his reconcilement seeking, 
His counsel whom she had displeased, his aid ; 
As one disarmed, his anger all he lost. 
And thus with peaceful words upraised her soon : 

" Unwary, and too desirous, as before. 
So now of what thou know'st not, who desir'st 
The punishment all on thyself ; alas ! 
Bear thine own first, ill able to sustain 
His full wrath, whose thou feel'st as yet least part, 
And my displeasure bear'st so ill. If prayers 
Could alter high decrees, I to that place 
Would speed before thee, and be louder heard, 
That on my head all might be visited, 
Thy frailty and infirmer sex forgiven, 
To me committed and by me exposed. 
But rise, let us no more contend, nor blame 
Each other, blamed enough elsewhere, but strive 
In offices of love, how we may lighten 
Each other's burden in a share of woe ; 
Since this day's death denounced, if aught I see, 
Will prove no sudden, but a slow-paced evil, 
A long day's dying to augment our pain. 
And to our seed (O hapless seed !) derived." 

To whom thus Eve, recovering heart, replied : 
" Adam, by sad experiment I know 



248 PAEADISK LOST. 

How little weight my words with thee can find. 
Found so erroneous, thence by just event 
Found so unfortunate ; nevertheless, 
Restored by thee, vile as I am, to place 
Of new acceptance, hopeful to regain 
Thy love, the sole contentment of my heart 
Living or dying, from thee I will not hide 
What thoughts in my unquiet breast are risen, 
Tending to some relief of our extremes. 
Or end, though sharp and sad, yet tolerable, 
As in our evils, and of easier choice. 
If care of our descent perplex us most 
Which must be born to certain woe, devoured 
By death at last ; and miserable it is 
To be to others cause of misery, 
Our own begotten, and of our loins to bring 
Into this cursed world a woeful race. 
That after wretched life must be at last 
Food for so foul a monster ; in thy power 
It lies, yet ere conception to prevent 
The race unblessed, to being yet unbegot. 
Childless thou art, childless remain ; so Death 
Shall be deceived his glut, and with us two 
Be forced to satisfy his ravenous maw. 
But if thou'judge it hard and difficult, 
Conversing, looking, loving, to abstain 
From love's due rites, nuptial embraces sweet, 
And with desire to languish without hope, 
Before the present object languishing 
With like desire, which would be misery 
And torment less than none of what we dread ; 
Then, both ourselves and seed at once to free 
From what we fear for both, let us make short, 
Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply 
With our own hands his office on ourselves. 
Why stand we longer shivering under fears, 
That show no end but death, and have the power. 
Of many ways to die the shortest choosing, 
Destruction with destruction to destroy ? 
She ended here, or vehement despair 



PARADISB LOST. 249 

Broke off the rest ; so much of death hei thoughts 
Had entertained, as dyed her cheeks with pale. 
But Adam with such counsel nothing swayed, 
To better hopes his more attentive mind 
Laboring had raised, and thus to Eve replied : 

" Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems 
To ai*gue in thee something more sublime 
And excellent than what thy mind contemns ; 
But self-destruction therefore sought, refutes 
That excellence thought in thee, and implies, 
Not thy contempt, but anguish and regret 
For loss of life and pleasure overloved. 
Or if thou covet death, as utmost end 
Of misery, so thinking to evade 
The penalty pronounced, doubt not but God 
Hath wiselier armed his vengeful ire than so 
To be forestalled ; much more I fear lest death, 
So snatched, will not exempt us from the pain 
We are by doom to pay ; rather such acts 
Of contumacy will provoke the Highest 
To make death in us live. Then let us seek 
Some safer resolution, which methinks 
I have in view, calling to mind with heed 
Part of our sentence, that thy seed shall bruise 
The serpent's head ; piteous amends ! unless 
Be meant, whom I conjecture, our grand foe 
Satan, who in the serpent hath contrived 
Against us this deceit : to crush his head 
Would be revenge indeed ; which will be lost 
By death brought on ourselves, or childless days 
Resolved as thou proposest ; so our foe 
Shall 'scape his punishment ordained, and we 
Instead shall double ours upon our heads. 
No more be mentioned then of violence 
Against ourselves, and wilful barrenness. 
That cuts us off from hope, and savours only 
Rancour and pride, impatience and despite, 
Reluctance against God and his just yoke 
Laid on our necks. Remember with what mild 
And gracious temper he both heard and judged 



250 PARADISE LOST. 

Without wrath or reviling ; we expected 

Immediate dissolution, which we thought 

Was meant by death that day, when To ! to thee 

Pains only in child-bearing were foretold, 

And bringing forth, soon recompensed with joy, 

Fruit of thy womb : on me the curse aslope 

Glanced on the ground : with labour I must earn 

My bread ; what harm? Idleness had been worse ; 

My labour will sustain me ; and lest cold 

Or heat should injure us, his timely care 

Hath unbesought provided, and his hands 

Clothed us unworthy, pitying while he judged ; 

How much more, if we pray him, will his ear 

Be open, and his heart to pity incline. 

And teach us further by what means to shun 

The inclement seasons, rain, ice, hail, and snow ? 

Which now the sky with various face begins 

To show us in this mountain, while the winds 

Blow moist and keen, shattering the graceful lockg 

Of these fair-spreading trees ; which bids us seek 

Some better warmth to cherish 

Our limbs benumbed, ere this diurnal star 

Leave cold the night, how we his gathered beams 

Reflected, may with matter sere foment ; 

Or, by collision of two bodies, grind 

The air attrite to tire, as late the clouds 

Justling, or pushed with winds, rude in their shock, 

Tine the slant lightning, whose thwart flame driven down 

Kindles the gummy bark of fir or pine. 

And sends a comfortable heat from far. 

Which might supply the sun : such fire to use, 

And what may else be remedy or cure 

To evils which our own misdeeds have wrought, 

He will instruct us praying, and of grace 

Beseeching him, so as we need not fear 

To pass comraodiously this life, sustained 

By him with many comforts, till we end 

In dust our final rest and native home. 

What better can we do, than, to the place 

Repairing where he judged us, prostrate fall 



PARADISE LOST. 251 

Before him reverent, and there confess 
Humbly our faults, and pardon beg, with tears 
"Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air 
Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign 
Of sorrow unfeigned, and humiliation meek ? 
Undoubtedly he will relent and turn 
From his displeasure ; in whose look serene, 
When angry most he seemed and most severe, 
What else but favour, grace, and mercy shone?" 

So spake our father penitent, nor Eve 
Felt less remorse : they forthwith to the place 
Repairing where he judged them, prostrate fell 
Before him reverent, and both confessed 
Humbly their faults, and pardon begged, with tears 
Watering the ground, and with their sighs the air 
Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign 
Of sorrow unfeigned, and humiliation meek. 



252 PARADISE LOST. 



BOOK XI. 



THE ARGUMENT. 

Thb Son of God presents to his Father the prayers of oui first parents, 
now repenting, and intercedes for them : God accepts them, but declares 
th.at they must no longer abide in Paradise ; sends Michael with a band 
of cherubim to dispossess them ; but first to reveal to Adam future 
things : Michael's coming down. Adam shows to Eve certain ominous 
signs ; he discerns Michael's approach ; goes out to meet him : the 
angel denounces their departure. Eve's lamentation. Adam pleads, 
but submits : the angel leads him up to a high hill ; sees before him in 
vision what shall happen till the flood. 

Thus they, in lowliest plight, repentant stood 

Praying ; for, from the mercy-seat above, 

Prevement grace descending had removed 

The stony from their hearts, and made new flesh 

Regenerate grow instead, that sighs now breathed 

Unutterable, which the Spirit of prayer 

Inspired, and winged for Heaven with speedier flight 

Than loudest oratory ; yet their port 

Not of mean suitors, nor important less 

Seemed their petition, than when the ancient pair 

In fables old, less ancient yet than these 

Deucalion and chaste Pyrrha, to restore 

The race of mankind drowned, before the shrine 

Of Themis stood devout. To Heaven their prayers 

Flew up, nor missed the way, by envious winds 

Blown vagabond or frustrate : in they passed 

Dimensionless through heavenly doors ; then clad 

With incense, where the golden altar fumed, 

By their great Intercessor, came in sight 

Before the Father's throne : them the glad Son 

Presenting thus to intercede began : 

" See, Father, what first-fruits on earth are sprung 



PARADISE LOST. 253 

From thy implanted grace in man ; these sighs 

And prayers, which in this golden censer, mixed 

With incense, I thy priest before thee bring, 

Fruits of more pleasing savour, from thy seed 

Sown with contrition in his heart, than those 

Which his own hand, manuring all the trees 

Of Paradise, could have produced, ere fallen 

From innocence. Now therefore bend thine ear 

To supplication ; hear his sighs, though mute ; 

Unskilful with what words to i^ray, let me 

Interpret for him, me his advocate 

And propitiation : all his works on me, 

Good or not good, ingraft ; my merit those 

Shall perfect, and for these my death shall pay. 

Accept me, and in me from these receive 

The smell of peace toward mankind ; let him live 

Before thee reconciled, at least his days 

Numbered, though sad, till death, his doom (which I 

To mitigate thus plead, not to reverse). 

To better life shall yield him, where with me 

All my redeemed may dwell in joy and bliss, 

Made one with me, as I with thee am one." 

To whom the father, without cloud, serene : 
" All thy request for man, accejited Son, 
Obtain : all thy request was my decree ; 
But longer in that Paradise to dwell, 
The law I gave to nature him forbids. 
Those pure immortal elements that know 
No gross, no unharmonious mixture foul, 
Eject him tainted now, and purge him off 
As a distemper, gross to air as gross. 
And mortal food, as may dispose him best 
For dissolution wrought by sin, that first 
Distempered all things, and of incorrupt 
Corrupted. I at first with two fair gifts 
Created him endowed, with happiness 
And immortality : that fondly lost, 
This other served but to eternize woe, 
Till I provided death ; so death becomea 
His final remedy, and after life 



254 PARADISE LOST. 

Tried iu sharp tribulation, and refined 

By faith and faithful works, to second life, 

AVaked in the renovation of the just, 

Resigns him up with Heaven and earth renewed. 

But let us call to synod all the Ijlest 

Through Heaven's wide bounds ; from them I will not 

hide 
My judgments, how with mankind I proceed, 
As how with peccant angels late tlic}^ saw. 
And in their state, though firm, stood more confirmed." 

He ended ; and the Sou gave signal high 
To the bright minister that watched : he blew 
His trumpet, heard in Oreb since perhaps 
When God descended, and perhaps once more 
To sound at general doom. The angelic blast 
Filled all the regions : from their blissful bowers 
Of amaranthine sliade, fountain, or spring, 
By tlie waters of life, where'er they sat 
In fellowships of joy, the sons of light 
Hasted, resorting to the sunnnons high. 
And took their seats ; till from his throne supreme 
The Almighty thus pronounced his sovran will : 

" O sons ! like one of us man is become 
To know both good and evil, since his taste 
Of that defended fruit ; but let him boast 
His knowledge of good lost, and evil got ; 
Happier, had it sufficed him to have known 
Good by itself, and evil not at all. 
He sorrows now, repents, and prays contrite, 
My motions in him ; longer than they move, 
His heart I know how variable and vain, 
Self-left. Lest therefore his now bolder hand 
Reach also of the tree of life, and eat, 
And live for ever, dream at least to live 
For ever, to remove him I decree, 
And send him from the garden forth to till 
The ground whence he was taken, fitter soil. 

" Michael, this my behest have thou in charge : 
Take to thee from among the cherubim 
Thy choice of flaming warriors, lest the fiend, 



PARADISE LOST. 255 

Or in behalf of man, or to invade 

Vacant possession, some new trouble raise : 

Haste thee, and from the Paradise of God 

Without remorse drive out the sinful pair, 

From hallowed ground the unholy, and denounce 

To them and to their progeny from thence 

Perpetual banishment. Yet lest they faint 

At the sad sentence rigorously urged 

(For I behold them softened, and with tears 

Bewailing thoir excess), all tei-ror hide. 

If patiently thy bidding they obey, 

Dismiss them not disconsolate ; reveal 

To Adam what shall come in future days, 

As I shall thee enlighten : intermix 

My covenant in the woman's seed renewed ; 

So send them fortli, though sorrowing, yet in peace ; 

And on the east side of the garden place. 

Where entrance up from Eden easiest climbs, 

Cherubic watch, and of a sword the flame 

Wide-waving, all approach far off to fright, 

And guard all passage to the tree of life ; 

Lest Paradise a receptacle prove 

To spirits foul, and all my trees their prey, 

With whose stolon fruit man once more to delude." 

He ceased ; and the archangelic power prepared 
For swifts descent ; with him the cohort bright 
Of watchful cherubim : four faces each 
Had, like a double Janus ; all their shape 
Sr angled with eyes, more numerous than those 
Of Argus, and more wakeful than to drowse, 
Charmed with Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed 
Of Hermes, or his opiate rod. Meanwhile, 
To resalute the world with sacred light, 
Leucothea waked, and with fresh dews embalmed 
The earth ; when Adam and first matron Eve 
Had ended now their orisons, and found 
Strength added from above ; new hope to spring 
Ont of despair; joy, but with fear yet linked ; 
Which thus to Eve his welcome words renewed: 

" Eve ! easily may faith admit that all 



256 PAEADISE LOST. 

The good which we enjoy from Heaven descends : 
But, that from us aught should ascend to Heaven, 
So prevalent as to concern the mind 
Of God high blest, or to incline his will. 
Hard to belief may seem ; yet this will prayer, 
Or one short sigh of human breath, upborne 
Even to the seat of God. For since I sought 
By prayer the offended Deity to appease, 
Kneeled, and before him humbled all my heart, 
Methought I saw him placable, and mild, 
Bending his ear : persuasion in me grew 
That I was heard with favour ; peace returned 
Home to my breast ; and to my memory 
His promise, that thy seed shall bruise our foe ; 
Which, then-not minded in dismay, yet now 
Assures me that the bitterness of death 
Is past, and we shall live. Whence hail to thee, 
Eve rightly called, mother of all mankind ! 
Mother of all things living, since by thee 
Man is to live ; and all things live for man." 

To whom thus Eve, with sad demeanour meek : 
" Ill-worthy I, such title should belong 
To me trangressor ! who, for thee ordained 
A help, became thy snare : to me reproach 
Rather belongs, distrust, and all dispraise. 
But infinite in pardon was my Judge, 
That I, who first brought death on all, am graced 
The source of life : next favourable thou. 
Who highly thus to entitle me vouchsaf'st, 
Far other names deserving. But the field 
To labour calls us, now with sweat imposed, 
Though after sleepless night ; for see ! the morn, 
All unconcerned with our unrest, begins 
Her rosy progress smiling : let us forth ; 
I never from thy side henceforth to stray, 
Where'er our day's work lies, though now enjoined 
Laborious till day droop : while here we dwell, 
What can be toilsome in these pleasant walks ? 
Here let us live, though in fallen state, content ! " 

So spake, so wished, much-humbled Eve ; but fate 



PARADISE LOST. 257 

Subscribed not : nature first gave sii^ns, impiessed 
On bird, beast, air : air suddenly eclipsed, 
After sbort blush of morn ; nigh in her sight 
The bird of Jove, stooped from his airy tour, 
Two birds of gayest plume before him drove ; 
Down fi-om a hill the beast that reigns in woods, 
First hunter then, pursued a gentle brace, 
Goodliest of all the forest, hart and hind ; 
Direct to the eastern gate was bent their flight. 
Adam observed, and with his eye the chase 
Pursuing, not unmoved, to Eve thus spake : 

" O Eve ! some further change awaits us nigh, 
Which Heaven, by these mute signs of nature, shows 
Forerunners of his purpose : or to warn 
Us, haply to secure of our discharge 
From penalty, because from death released 
Some days : how long, and what till then our life, 
Who knows ? or more than this, that we are dust, 
And thither must return, and be no more ? 
Why else this double object in our sight 
Of flight pursued in the air, and o'er the ground. 
One way the self-same hour ? why in the east 
Darkness ere day's mid-course, and morning-light 
More orient in yon western cloud, that draws 
O'er the blue firmament a radiant while, 
And slow descends with something heavenly fraught ? ** 

He erred not; for by this the heavenly bands 
Down from the sky of jasper lighted now 
In Paradise, and on a hill made halt, 
A glorious apparition, had not doubt 
And carnal fear that day dimmed Adam's eye. 
Not that more glorious, when the angels met 
Jacob in Mahanaira, where he saw 
The field pavilioned with his guardians bright ; 
Nor that, which on the flaming mount appeared 
In Dothan, covered with a camp of fire ; 
Against the Syrian king ; who, to surprise 
One man, assassion like, had levied war. 
War unproclaimed. The princely hierarch 
In their bright stand there left his powers, to seize 

17 



258 PARADISE LOST. 

Possession of the garden : he alone, 

To find where Adam sheltered, took his way ; 

Not unpercived of Adam, who to Eve, 

While the great visitant approached, thus spake : 

" Eve, now expect great tidings, which perhaps 
Of us will soon determine, or impose 
New laws to be observed ; for I descry. 
From yonder blazing cloud that veils the hill, 
One of the heavenly host, and, by his gait. 
None of the meanest ; some great potentate, 
Or of the thrones above ; such majesty 
Invests him coming ! yet not terrible. 
That I should fear ; nor sociably mild. 
As Raphael, that I should much confide ; 
But solemn and sublime ; whom, not to offend, 
With reverence I must meet, and thou retire." 
He ended : and the archangel soon drew nigh, 
Nor in his shape celestial, but as man 
Clad to meet m.an ; over his lucid arms 
A military vest of purple flowed. 
Livelier than Melibcean, or the grain 
Of Sarra, worn by kings and heroes old 
In time of truce; Iris had dipped the woof: 
His starry helm unbuckled showed him prime 
In manhood Avhere youth ended : by his side, 
As in a glistering zodiac, hung the sword, 
Satan's clire dread ; and in his hand the spear. 
Adam bowed low : he, kingly, from his state 
Inclined not, but his coming thus declared : 

" Adam ! Heaven's high behest no preface needs 
Sufficient that thy prayers are heard ; and Death, 
Then due by sentence when thou didst transgress, 
Defeated of his seizure : many days 
Given thee of grace, wherein thou mayest repent, 
And one bad act with many deeds well done 
Mayst cover : well may then thy Lord, appeased, 
Redeem thee quite from Death's ra])acious claim ; 
But longer in this Paradise to dwell 
Permits not : to move thee I am come. 
And send thee fromthe garden forth, to till 



PARADISE LOST. 259 

The ground whence thou wast taken ; iitter soil." 

He added col ; for Adam at the news 
Heart-struck with chilling gripe of sorrow stood, 
That all his senses bound : Eve, who unseen 
Yet all had heard, with audible lament 
Discovered soon the place of her retire : 

" Oh, unexpected stroke, worse than of death ! 
Must I thus leave thee, Paradise ? thus leave 
Thee, native soil, these ha})py walks and shades, 
Fit haunt of gods ? where I had hope to spend, 
Quiet, though sad, the respite of that day 
That must be mortal to us both, O flowers, 
That never will in other climate grow, 
My early visitation, and my last 
At even, which I bred up with tender hand 
From the first opening bud, and gave ye names ; 
Who now shall rear ye to the sun, or rank 
Your tribes, and water from the ambrosial fount? 
Thee lastly, nuptial bower, by me adorned. 
With wliat to sight or smell was sweet; from thee 
How shall I part, and whether wander down 
Into a lower world, to this obscure 
And wild ? how shall we breathe in other air 
Less pure, accustomed to immortal fruits ? " 
Whom thus the angel interrupted mild : 
*' Lament not. Eve, but patiently resign 
What justly thou hast lost: nor set thy heart. 
Thus over-fond, in that which is not thine : 
Thy going is not lonely ; with thee goes 
Thy husband ; him to follow thou art bound ; 
Where he abides, think there thy native soil." 

Adam, by this from the cold sudden damj) 
Recovering, and his scattered si)irits returned, 
To Michael thus his humble words addressed : 

" Celestial, Avhether among the thrones, or named 
Of them the highest, for such of shape may seem 
Prince above princes, gently hast thou told 
Thy message, which might else in telling wound. 
And in performing end us ; what besides 
Of sorrow and dejection and despair 



260 PARADISE LOST. 

Our frailty can sustain, thy tidings bring, 

Departure from this haj^py place, our sweet 

Recess, and only consolation lift 

Familiar to our eyes ; all places else 

Inhospitable appear and desolate, 

Nor knowing us nor known : and if by prayer 

Incessant I could hope to change the will 

Of him who all things can, I would not cease 

To weary him with ray assiduous cries : 

But prayer against his absolute decree 

No more avails than breath against the wind, 

Blown stifling back on liim that breathes it forth 

Therefore to his great bidding I submit. 

This most afflicts me, that, departing hence, 

As from his face I shall be hid, deprived 

His blessed countenance ; here I could frequent 

With worship place by place where he vouchsafed 

Presence divine, and to my sons relate. 

On this mount he appeared ; under this tree 

Stood visible ; among these pines his voice 

I heard ; here with him at this fountain talked : 

So many grateful altars I would rear 

Of grassy turf, and pile up every stone 

Of lustre from the brook, in memory, 

Or monument to ages, and thereon 

Offer sweet smelling gums, and fruits, and flowers. 

In yonder nether world where shall I seek 

His bright appearances, or footsteps trace? 

For though I fled him angry, yet, recalled 

To life prolonged and promised race, I now 

Gladly beheld though but his utmost skirts 

Of glory, and far off his steps adore." 

To whom thus Michael with regard benign : 
" Adam, thou knowest Heaven his, and all the earthi 
Not this rock only ; his omnipresence fills 
Land, sea, and air, and every kind that lives. 
Fomented by his virtual power and warmed : 
All the earth he gave thee to possess and rule, 
No despicable gift ; surmise not then 
His presence to these narrow bounds confined 



PARADISE LOST. 261 

Of Paradise or Edeu : tliis had been 

Perhaps thy capita] seat, from whence had spread 

All generations, and had hither come 

From all the ends of the earth, to celebrate 

And reverence thee their great progenitor. 

But this pre-eminence thou hast lost, brought down 

To dwell on even ground now with thy sons : 

Yet doubt not but in valley and in plain 

God is as here, and will be found alike 

Present, and of his presence many a sign 

Still following thee, still compassing thee round 

"With goodness and paternal love, his face 

Express, and of his steps the track divine. 

Which that thou mayst believe, and be confirmed 

Ere thou from hence depart, know I am sent 

To show thee what shall come in future days 

To thee and to thy offspring ; good with bad 

Expect to hear, supernal grace contending 

With sinfulness of men ; thereby to learn 

True patience, and to temper joy with fear, 

And pious sorroAV, equally inured 

By moderation either state to bear. 

Prosperous or adverse : so shalt thou lead 

Safest thy life, and best prepared endure 

Thy mortal passage when it comes. Ascend 

This hill ; let Eve (for I have drenched her eyes) 

Flere sleep below, while thou to foresight wakest; 

As once thou slept'st, while she to life was formed." 

To whom thus Adam gratefully replied : 
" Ascend ; I follow thee, safe guide, the path 
Thou lead'st me, and to the hand of Heaven submit, 
However chastening ; to the evil turn 
My obvious breast : arming to overcome 
By suffering, and earn rest from labour won, 
If so I may attain." So both ascend 
In the visions of God. It was a hill 
Of Paradise the highest, from whose top 
The hemisphere of earth in clearest ken 
Stretched out to the amplest reach of prospect lay. 
Not higher that hill nor wider looking round, 



262 PARADISE LOST. 

"WTiereon for different cause tlie tempter set 

Our second Adaru in the wilderness, 

To show him all earth's kingdoms and their glory. 

Ilis eye might there command wherever stood 

City of old or modern fame, the seat 

Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls 

Of Cambalu seui of Cathaian Can, 

And Samarchand by Oxus, Temir's throne, 

Tu Paquin of Siiiaean kings ; and thence 

To Agra and Lahor, of great Mogul, 

Down to the golden Chersonese ; or where 

Q'ho Persian in Ecbatan sat, or since 

In Ilispahan ; or where the Russian Ksar 

In Mosco, or the Sultan in Bizance, 

Turchestan-born : nor could his eye not ken 

The empire of Negus to his utmost port, 

Ercoco, and the less maritime kings, 

Mombaza, and Quiloa, and Melind, 

And Sofala thought Ophir, to the realm 

Of Congo, and Angola farthest south ; 

Or thence from Niger flood to Atlas Mount, 

The kingdoms of Almansor, Fez and Sus, 

Marocco, and Algiers, and Tremisen ; 

On Europe thence, and where Rome was to sway 

The world : in spirit perha])s he also saw 

Rich Mexico, the seat of Montezume, 

And Cusco, in Peru, the richer seat 

Of Atabalipa, and yet unspoiled 

Guiana, whose great city Geryon's sons 

Call El Dorado ; but to nobler sights 

Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed. 

Which that false fruit that promised clearer sight 

Had bred ; then cleansed with euphrasy and rue 

The visual nerve, for he had much to see ; 

And from the well of life three drops instilled 

So deep the power of these ingredients })ierced, 

E'en to the inmost seat of mental sight. 

That Adam, now enforced to close his eyes. 

Sunk down, and all his spirit became entranced ; 

But him the gentle angel by the hand 



PARADISK T.OST. 263 

Soon raised, and his attention thus recalled : 

"Adam, now ope thine eyes, and first behold 
The effects which thy original crime hath wrought 
In some to spring from thee, who never touched 
The excepted tree, nor with the snake conspired 
Nor sinned thy sin, yet from that sin derive 
Corruption to bring forth more violent deeds." 

Ilis eyes he opened, and beheld a field. 
Part arable and tilth, whereon were sheavea 
New reaped, the other part sheep-walks and folds ; 
I' the midst an altar as the landmark stood, 
Rustic, of grassy sord ; thither anon 
A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought 
First-fruits, the green ear, and the yellow sheaf, 
TJnculled, as came to hand ; a shepherd next, 
More meek, came with the firstlings of his flock, 
Choicest and best ; then sacrificing, laid 
The inwards and their fat, with incense strewed, 
On the cleft wood, and all due rites performed : 
His offering soon propitious fire from Heaven 
Consumed with nimble glance and grateful steam ; 
The other's not, for his was not sincere : 
Whereat he inly raged ; and, as they talked. 
Smote him into the midriff with a stone 
That beat out life : he fell, and, deadly pale, 
Groaned out his soul with gushing blood effused. 
Much at that sight was Adam in his heart 
Dismayed ; and thus, in haste, to the angel cried : 

"0 teacher ! some great mischief has befallen 
To that meek man, who well hath sacrificed ! 
Is piety thus and pure devotion paid ? " 

To whom Michael thus, he also moved, replied : 
" These two are brethren, Adam, and to come 
Out of thy loins ; the unjust the just hath slain, 
For envy that his brother's offering found 
From Heaven acceptance ; but the bloody fact 
Will be avenged, and the other's faith, approved, 
Lose no reward, though here thou see him die, 
Rolling in dust and gore." To which our sire: 

" Alas ! both, for the deed and for the cause 1 



264 PARADISE LOST. 

But have I now seen death? Is this the way 
I must return to native dust ? Oh, sight 
Of terror, foul and ugly to behold ! 
Horrid to think ! how horrible to feel ! " 

To whom thus Michael : " Death thou hast seen 
In his first shape on man ; but many shapes 
Of Death, and many are the ways that lead 
To his grim cave, all dismal ; yet to sense 
More terrible at the entrance than within. 
Some, as thou saw'st, by violent stroke shall die ; 
By fire, flood, famine; by intemperance more 
In meats and drinks, which on the earth shall bring 
Diseases dire, of which a monstrous crew 
Before thee shall a])pear, that thou mayst know 
What misery the inabstinence of Eve 
Shall bring on men." Immediately a place 
Before his eyes appeared, sad, noisome, dark ; 
A lazar-house it seemed, wherein were laid 
Numbers of all diseased, all maladies 
Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms 
Of heart-sick agony ; all feverous kinds, 
Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs, 
Intestine stone and ulcer, colic pangs, 
Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy. 
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy, 
Marasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence. 
Dropsies, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums. 
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans ; Despair 
Tended the sick busiest from couch to couch; 
And over them triumphant Death his dart 
Shook, but delayed to strike, though oft invoked 
With vows, as their chief good, and final hope. 
Sight so deform, what heart of rock could long 
Dry eye behold ? Adam could not, but wept. 
Though not of woman born ; compassion quelled 
His best of man, and gave him up to tears 
A space, till firmer thoughts restrained excess ; 
And, scarce recovering words, his jjlaint renewed : 

" Oh, miserable mankind ! to what fall 
Degraded ! to what wretched fate reserved I 



PABADISB LOST. 265 

Better end here unborn. Why is life given 
To be thus wrested from us ? rather why- 
Obtruded on us tlnis ? who, if we knew 
What we receive, would either not accept 
Life offered, or soon beg to lay it down, 
Glad to be so dismissed in peace. Can thus 
The image of God, in man created once 
So goodly and erect, though faulty since 
To such unsightly sufferings be debased 
Under inhuman pains ? Why should not man, 
Retaining still divine similitude 
In part, from such deformities be free. 
And for his Maker's image sake exempt?" 

" Their Maker's image," answered Michael, "then 
Forsook them, when themselves they vilified 
To serve ungoverned appetite, and took 
His imnge whom they served, a brutish vice, 
Inductive mainly to the sin of Eve. 
Therefore so abject is their punishment. 
Disfiguring not God's likeness, but their own ; 
Or, if his likeness, by themseh'es defaced. 
While they prevert pure nature's healthful rules 
To loathsome sickness ; worthily since they 
God's image did not reverence in themselves." 
" I yield it just," said Adam, "and submit. 
But is there yet no other way, besides 
These painful passages, how we may come 
To death, and mix with our connatural dust?" 

"There is," said Michael, " if thou well observe 
The rule of not too much, by temperance taught, 
In what thou eat'st and drink'st, seeking from thence 
Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight. 
Till many years over thy head return : 
So mayst thou live, till like ripe fruit thou drop 
Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease 
Gathered, not harshly plucked, for death mature : 
This is old age ; but then thou must outlive 
Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty, which will change 
To withered, weak, and gray ; thy senses then 
Obtuse, all taste of pleasure must forego 



266 PARADISE LOST. 

To what thou hast ; and for the air of youth, 
Hopeful and cheerful, in thy blood will reign 
A melancholy damp of cold and dry 
To weigh thy spirits down, and last consume 
The balm of life." To whom our ancestor : 

" Henceforth I fly not death, nor would prolong 
Life much, bent rather how 1 may be quit. 
Fairest and easiest, of this cumbrous charge, 
Which I must keep till my appointed day 
Of rendering up, and patiently attend 
My dissolution." Michael replied : 

" Nor love thy life, nor hate ; but what thou liv'st 
Live well ; how long or short, permit to Heaven : 
And now prepare thee for another sight." 

He looked, and saw a spacious plain, whereon 
Were tents of various hue ; by some were herds 
Of cattle grazing ; others, whence the sound 
Of instruments that made melodious chime 
Was heard, of harp and organ ; and who moved 
Their stops and chords were seen : his volant touch 
Instinct through all proportions low and high 
Fled and pursued tran verse the resonant fugue. 
In other part stood one who at the forge 
Labouring, two massy clods of iron and brass 
Had melted (whether found where casual fire 
Had wasted woods on mountain or in vale, 
Down to the veins of earth, thence gliding hot 
To some cave's mouth, or whether washed by stream 
From under ground) ; the liquid ore lie drained 
Into fit moulds prepared ; from which he formed, 
First, his own tools; then, what might else be wrought 
Fusil or graven in metal. After these. 
But on the hither side, a different sort 
From the high neighbouring hills, which was their seat, 
Down to the plain descended : by their guise. 
Just men they seemed, and all their study bent 
To worship God aright, and know his works 
Not hid, nor those things last which might preserve 
Freedom and peace to men : they on the plain 
Long had not walked, when from the tents, behold I 



PARADISE LOST. 267 

A bevy of lair women, rielily gay 

In gems and wanton dress ; to the harp they sung 

Soft amorous ditties, and in dance came on : 

The men, though grave, eyed them, and let their eyea 

Rove without rein, till, in the amorous net, 

Fast caught, they liked, and each his liking chose ; 

And now of love they treat, till the evening star, 

Love's harbinger appeared ; then all in heat 

They light the nuptial torch, and bid invoke 

Hymen, then first to marriage rites invoked : 

With feast and music all the tents resound. 

Such happy interview and fair event 

Of love and youth not lost, songs, garlands, flowers, 

And charming symphonies, attached the heart 

Of Adam, soon inclined to admit delight, 

The bent of nature ; which he thus expressed : 

" True opener of mine eyes ! prime angel blest ! 
Much better seems this vision, and more hope 
Of peaceful days portends, than those two past : 
Those were of hate and death, or pain much worse ; 
Here nature seems fulfilled in all her ends." 

To whom thus Michael : " Judge not what is beat 
By pleasure, though to nature seeming meet 
Created as thou art to nobler end, 
Holy and pure, conformity divine. 
Those tents thou saw'st so pleasant, were the tents 
Of wickedness, wherein shall dwell his race 
Who slew his brother ; studious they appear 
Of arts that polish life, inventors rare, 
Unmindful of their Maker, though his Spirit 
Taught them ; but they his gifts acknowledged none. 
Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget ; 
For that fair female troop thou saw'st, that seemed 
Of goddesses, so blithe, so sm.ooth, so gay, 
Yet empty of all good, wherein consists 
Woman's domestic honour and chief praise, 
Bred only and completed to the taste 
Of lustful appetence, to sing, to dance, 
To dress, and troll the tongue, and roll the eye ; 
To these that sober race of men, whose lives 



268 PARADISE LOST. 

Religious titled them the sons of God, 

Shall yield up all their virtue, all their fame, 

Ignobly, to the trains and to the smiles 

Of these fair atheists ; and now swim in joy. 

Ere long to swim at large ; and laugh, for which 

The world, ere long, a world of tears must Aveep." 

To whom thus Adam, of short joy bereft : 
" Oh, pity and shame, that they, who to live well 
Entered so fair, should turn aside to tread 
Paths indirect, or in the midway faint ! 
But still 1 see ■ tenor of man's woe 
Holds on the same, from woman to begin." 

" From man's effeminate slackness it begins," 
Said the angel, " who should better hold his place 
By wisdom, and superior gifts received. 
But now jirepare thee for another scene." 

He looked, and saw wide territory spread 
Before him ; towns, and rural works between ; 
Cities of men with lofty gates and towers. 
Concourse in arms, fierce faces threatening war, 
Giants of mighty bone, and bold emprise ; 
Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed, 
Single, or in array of battle ranged, 
Both horse and foot ; nor idly mustering stood : 
One way a band select from forage drives 
A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine. 
From a fat meadow-ground ; or fleecy flock, 
Ewes and their bleating lambs, over the plain, 
Their booty ; scarce with life the shcjiherds fly 
But call in aid, which makes a bloody fray : 
With cruel tournament the squadrons join ; 
Where cattle pastured late, now scattered lies 
With carcasses and arms the ensanguined field. 
Deserted. Others to a city strong 
Lay siege, encamped, by battery, scale, and mine, 
Assaulting : others from the wall defend. 
With dart and javelin, stones, and sulphurous fire ; 
On each hand slaughter, and gigantic deeds. 
In other part the sceptred heralds call 
To council, in the city gates : anon 



PABADISE LOST. 269 

Gray-headed men and grave, with -warriors mixed, 
Assemble, and harangues are heard ; but soon. 
In factious opposition ; till at last 
Of middle age one rising, eminent 
In wise dejiort, spake much of right and wrong, 
Of justice, of religion, truth, and peace. 
And judgment from above : him old and young 
Exploded, and had seized with violent hands, 
Had not a cloud descending snatched him thence, 
Unseen amid the throng : so violence 
Proceeded, and oppression, and sword-law, 
Through all the plain ; and refuge none was found. 

Adam was all in tears, and to his guide 
Lamenting turned full sad : " Oh, what are these? 
Death's minister?, not men ! who thus deal death 
Inhumanly to men, and multiply 
Ten thousandfold the sin of him who slew 
His brother ; for of whom such massacre 
JNIake they, but of their brethren, men of men ? 
But who was that just man, whom had not Heaven 
Rescued, had in his righteousness been lost ? " 

To whom thus Michael : " These are the product 
Of those ill-mated marriages thou saw'st ; 
Where good with bad were matched, who of themselves 
Abhor to join ; and by imprudence mixed. 
Produce prodigious births of body or mind. 
Such were these giants, men of high renown ; 
For in those days might only shall be admired, 
And valour and heroic virtue called : 
To overcome in battle, and subdue 
Nations, and bring home spoils with infinite 
Man-slaughter, shall be held the highest pitch 
Of human glory ; and for glory done 
Of trium})h, to be styled great conquerors, 
Patrons of mankind, gods, and sons of gods ; 
Destroyers rightlier called, and plagues of men I 
Thus fame shall be achieved, renown on earth ; 
And what most merits fame in silence hid. 
But he, the seventh from thee, whom thou beheld'st 
The only righteous in a world perverse, 



270 PARADISE LOST. 

And tlierefore hatod, therefore so beset 

With foes, for daring single to be just, 

And utter odious truth that God would come 

To judge them with his saints ; him the Most TTiga. 

Rapt in a balmy cloud with sving^d steeds. 

Did, as thou saw'st, receive, to walk with God 

High in salvation and the climes of bliss. 

Exempt from death, to show thee what reward 

Awaits the good, the rest what punishment ; 

Which now direct thine eyes, and soon behold." 

He looked, and saw the face of things quite changed 
The brazen throat of war had ceased to roar : 
All now was turned to jollity and game, 
To luxury and riot, feast and dance, 
Marrying or prostituting, as befell, 
Rape or adultery, where passing fair 
Allured them ; thence from cuj^s to civil broils. 
At length a reverend sire among them came, 
And of their doings great dislike declared, 
And testified against their ways : he oft 
Frequented their assemblies, whereso met, 
Triumphs, or festivals ; and to them preached 
Conversion and repentance, as to souls 
In prison, under judgments imminent ; 
But all in vain ! Which when he saw, he ceased 
Contending, and removed his tents far off : 
Then, from the mountain hewing timber tall, 
Began to build a vessel of huge bulk. 
Measured by cubit, length, and breadth, and height ; 
Smeared round with pitch; and in the side a door 
Contrived ; and of provisions laid in large, 
For man and beast : when lo ! a wonder strange ! 
Of every beast, and bird, and insect small, 
Came sevens, and pairs ; and entered in, as taught 
Their order : last the sire, and his three sons 
With their four wives : and God made fast the door. 
Meanwhile the south-wind rose, and, with black winga 
Wide hovering, all the clouds togetlier drove 
From under Heaven : the hills, to their supply, 
Vapour and exhalation, dusk and moist, 



PARADISE LOST. 271 

Sent up amain. And now the thickened sky 
lake a dark ceiling stood : down rushed tlie rain 
Impetuous ; and continued, till the earth 
No more was seen : the floating vessel swum 
Uplifted, and secure with beaked prow 
Rode tilting o'er the waves : all dwellings else 
Flood overwhelmed, and them with all their pomp 
Deep under water rolled : sea covered sea, 
Sea without shore : and in their palaces, 
Where luxury late reigned, sea-monsters whelped 
And stabled : of mankind (so numerous late) 
All left, in one small bottom swum embarked. 

How didst thou grieve then, Adam ! to behold 
The end of all thy offspring ; end so sad, 
Depopulation ! Thee another flood. 
Of tears and sorrow a flood, thee also drowned, 
And sunk thee as thy sons ; till, gently reared 
By the angel, on thy feet thou stood'st at last, 
Though comfortless ; as when a father mourns 
His children, all in view destroyed at once ; 
And scarce to the angel uttered'st thus thy plaint: 

" Oh, visions ill foreseen ! Better had 1 
Lived ignorant of future ! so had borne 
My part of evil only ; each day's lot 
Enough to bear : those now, that were dispensed 
The burden of many ages, on me light 
At once, by my foreknowledge gaining birth 
Abortive, to torment me, ere their being. 
With thought that they must be. Let no man seek 
Henceforth to be foretold what shall befall 
Him or his children ; evil he may be sure, 
Which neither his foreknowing can prevent ; 
And he the future evil shall, no less 
In apprehension than in substance, feel, 
Grievous to bear. But that care now is past ; 
Man is not whom to warn : those few escaped 
Famine and anguish will at last consume 
Wandering that watery desert : I had hope 
When violence was ceased, and war on earth, 
A.11 would have then gone well, peace would have crowned 



I 



272 PARADISE LOST. 

With length of bappy days the race of man ; 
But I was far deceived ; for now I see 
Peace to corrupt no less than war to waste. 
How comes it thus ? unfold, celestial guide, 
And whether here the race of man will end." 

To whom thus Michael : " Those whom last thou 8aw*8t, 
In triumph and luxurious wealth, are they 
First seen in acts of prowess eminent 
And great exploits, but of true virtue void ; 
Who having spilt much blood, and done much waste, 
Subduing nations, and achieved thereby 
Fame in the world, high titles, and rich prey, 
Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth, 
Surfeit and lust, till wantonness and pride 
Raise out of friendship hostile deeds in peace. 
The conquered also, and enslaved by war, 
Shall with their freedom lost all virtue lose 
And fear of God, from whom their piety feigned 
In sharp contest of battle found no aid 
Against invaders ; therefore cooled in zeal, 
Thenceforth shall practise how to live secure. 
Worldly or dissolute, on what their lords 
Shall leave them to enjoy ; for the earth shall bear 
More than enough, that temperance may be tried : 
So all shall turn degenerate, all de]jraved ; 
Justice and temperance, truth and faith, forgot ; 
One man except, the only son of light 
In a dark age, against example good, 
Against allurement, custom, and a world 
Ofltended ; fearless of rej)roach and scorn, 
Or violence, he of their wicked ways 
Shall them admonish, and before them set 
The paths of righteousness, how much more safe^ 
And full of peace denouncing wrath to come 
On their impenitence ; and shall return 
Of them derided, but of God observed, 
The one just man alive ; by his command 
Shall build a wondrous ark, as thou beheld'st, 
To save himself and household from amidst 
A world devote to universal wreek. 



P.VRADISE LOST. 278 

No sooner he with them of man and beast 

Select for life shall in the ark be lodged, 

And sheltered round, but all the cataracts 

Of Heaven set open on the earth shall pour 

Rain day and night ; all fountains of the deep 

Broke up, ehall heave the ocean to usurp 

Beyond all bounds, till inundation rise 

Above the highest hills : tlien shall this mount 

Of Paradise by might of waves be moved 

Out of his place, pushed by the horned flood, 

With all his verdure spoiled, and trees adrift, 

Down the great river to the opening gulf, 

And there take root an island salt and bare. 

The haunt of seals, and ores, and sea-mews' clang: 

To teach thee that God attributes to place 

No sanctity, if none be thither brought 

By men who there frequent, or therein dwell. 

And now what further shall ensue, behold." 

He looked, and saw the ark hull on the flood, 
Which now abated ; for the clouds were fled. 
Driven by a keen north-wind, that blowing dry, 
Wrinkled the face of deluge, as decayed ; 
And the clear sun on his wide watery glass 
Gazed hot, and of the fresh wave largely drew, 
As after thirst, which made their flowing shrink 
From standing lake to tripping ebb, that stole 
With soft foot towards the deep, who now had stopped 
His sluices, as the Heaven his windows shut. 
The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground, 
Fast on the top of some high mountain fixed. 
And now the tops of hills as rocks appear ; 
With clamour thence the rapid currents drive 
Towards the retreating sea their furious tide. 
Forthwith from out the ark a raven flies. 
And, after him, the surer messenger, 
A dove sent forth once and again to spy 
Green tree or ground whereon his foot may light; 
The second time returning, in his bill 
An olive-leaf he brings, pacific sign : 
Anon dry ground appears, and from hb ark 

18 



274 PARADISE LOST. 

The ancient sire descends with all his train ; 
Then with uplifted hands, and eyes devout, 
Grateful to Heaven, over his head beholds 
A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow 
Conspicuous with three listed colours gay, 
Betokening peace from God, and covenant new. 
Whereat the heart of Adam, erst so sad. 
Greatly rejoiced, and thus his joy broke forth: 

" O thou who future things canst represent 
As present ! heavenly instructor ! I revive 
At this last sight, assured that man shall live 
With all the creatures, and their seed preserve. 
Far less I now lament for one whole world 
Of wicked sons destroyed, than I rejoice 
For one man foiind so perfect and so just. 
That God vouchsafes to raise another world 
From him, and all his anger to forget. 
But say, what mean those coloured streaks in Heaven 
Distended, as the brow of God appeased ? 
Or serve they as a flowery verge to bind 
The fluid skirts of that same watery cloud, 
Lest it again dissolve and shower the earth ? " 

To whom the archangel : " Dexterously thou aim'st ; 
So willingly doth God remit his ire. 
Though late repenting him of man depraved. 
Grieved at his heart when looking down he saw 
Tiie whole earth filled with violence, and all flesh 
Corrupting each their way ; yet, those removed, 
Such grace shall one just man find in his sight, 
That he relents, not to blot out mankind. 
And makes a covenant never to destroy 
The earth again by flood, nor let the sea 
Siirpass his Ijounds, nor rain to drown the world 
With man therein or beast ; but when he brings 
Over the earth a cloud, will therein set 
His triple-coloured bow, whereon to look. 
And call to mind his covenant : day and night, 
Seed-time and harvest, heat and hoary frost. 
Shall hold their course, till fire purge all things new, 
Both Heaven and earth, wherein the just shall dwell." 



PABADISE LOST. 275 



BOOK XII. 



THE ABGUM E NT. 



The angel Michael continues from the flood to relate what shall succeed ; 
then, in the mention of Abraham, comes by degrees to explain who that 
seed of the woman shall be, which was promised Adam and Eve in the 
fall ; his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension ; the state of 
the church till his second coming. Adam, greatly satisfied and recora- 
forted by these relations and promises, descends the hill with Micliael ; 
wakens Eve, who all this while had slept, but with gentle dreams com- 
posed to quietness of mind and submission. Michael in either hand 
leads them out of Paradise, the fiery sword waving behind them, and 
the cherubim taking their stations to guard the place. 

As one who in his journey bates at noon, 

Though bent on speed, so here the archangel paused 

Betwixt the world destroyed and world restored, 

If Adam aught perhaps might interpose ; 

Then with transition sweet new S])eech resumes : 

" Thus thou hast seen one world begin and end ; 
And man as from a second stock proceed. 
Much thou hast yet to see, but I perceive 
Thy mortal sight to fail ; objects divine 
Must needs impair and weary human sense : 
Henceforth what is to come I will relate, 
Thou, therefore, give due audience, and attend. 
This second source of men, while yet but few, 
And while the dread of judgment past remains 
Fresh in their minds, fearing the Deity, 
With some regard to what is just and right 
Shall lead their lives, and multi})ly apace, 
Labouring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop. 
Corn, wine, and oil ; and from the herd or flock, 
Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid, 
\yith large wine-offerings poured, and sacred feast, 
Shall spend their days in joy unblamed, and dwell 



276 PARADISE LOST. 

Long time in peace by families aacl tribes 

Under paternal rule : till one shall rise 

Of proud ambitious heart, who, not content 

With fair equality, fraternal state. 

Will arrogate dominion undeserved 

Over his brethren, and quite dispossess 

Concord and law of nature from the earth, 

Hunting (and men, not beasts, shall be his game) 

With war and hostile snare such as refuse 

Subjection to his empire tyrannous : 

A mighty hunter thence he shall be styled 

Before the Lord, as in despite of Heaven, 

Or from Heaven claiming second sovranty ; 

And from rebellion shall derive his name, 

Though of rebellion others he accuse. 

He with a crew, whom like ambition joins 

With him or under him to tyrannize, 

Marching from Eden towards the west, shall find 

The plain, wherein a black bituminous gurge 

Boils out from under ground, the mouth of Hell : 

Of brick, and of that stuff, they cast to build 

A city and tower, whose top may reach to Heaven ; 

And get themselves a name, lest, far dispersed 

In foreign lands, their memory be lost. 

Regardless whether good or evil fame. 

But God, who oft descends to visit men 

Unseen, and through their habitations walks 

To mark their doings, them beholding soon, 

Comes down to see their city, ere the tower 

Obstruct Heaven-towers, and in derision sets 

Upon their tongues a various spirit to rase 

Quite out their native language, and instead 

To sow a jangling noise of words unknown : 

Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud 

Among the builders ; each to other calls 

Not understood, till hoarse, and all in rage, 

As mocked they storm ; great laughter was in Heaven, 

And looking down, to see the hubbub strange, 

And hear the din ; thus was the building left 

Ridiculous, and the work Confusion named." 



PABADISK LOST. 277 

Whereto thus Adam, fatherly displeased : 
" O execrable son ! so to aspire 
Above his brethren, to himself assuming 
Authority usurped, from God not given ; 
He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl, 
Dominion absolute ; that right we hold 
By his donation ; but man over men 
lie made not lord ; such title to himself 
Reserving, human left from human free. 
But this usurper his encroachment proud 
Stays not on man ; to God his tower intends 
Siege and defiance. Wretched man ! what food 
Will he convey up thither to sustain 
Himself and his rash army, where thin air 
Above the clouds, will pine his entrails gross, 
And faraish him of breath, if not of bread ? " 

To whom thus Michael : " Justly thou abhorr'st 
That son, who on the quiet state of men 
Such trouble brought, affecting to subdue 
Rational liberty ; yet know withal. 
Since thy original lapse, true liberty 
Is lost, which always with right reason dwells 
Twinned, and from her hath no dividual being : 
Reason in man obscured, or not obeyed. 
Immediately inordinate desires 
And upstart passions catch the government 
From reason, and to servitude reduce 
Man, till then free. Therefore, since he permits 
Within himself unworthy powers to reign 
Over free reason, God, in judgment just, 
Subjects him from without to violent lords, 
Who ofl as undeservedly enthral 
His outward freedom : tyranny must be, 
Though to the tyrant thereby no excuse. 
Yet sometimes nations will decline so low 
From virtue, which is reason, that no wrong, 
But justice, and some fatal curse annexed, 
Deprives them of their outward liberty, 
Their inward lost : witness the irreverent son 
Of him who built the ark, who for the shame 



278 PARADISE LOST. 

Done to his father, h ;ard this heavy curse, 

Servant of servants,' on his vicious race. 
Thus will this latter, as the former world. 
Still tend from bad t(> worse, till God at last, 
Wearied with their ir iquities, withdraw 
His presence from am jng them, and avert 
His holy eyes ; resolv: ng from thenceforth 
To leave them to thei)- own polluted ways ; 
And one peculiar nation to select 
From all the rest, of whom to be invoked, 
A nation from one faithful man to spring. 
Him, on this side Euphrates yet residing, 
Bred up in idol worship (Oh, that men — 
Canst thou believe ? — should be so stupid grown. 
While yet the patriarch lived who 'scaped the flood, 
As to forsake the living God, and fall 
To worship their own work in wood and stone 
For gods !), yet him God the Most High vouchsafes 
To call b}' vision, from his father's house, 
His kindred, and false gods, into a land 
Which He will show him, and from him will raise 
A mighty nation ; and upon him shower 
His benediction so, that in his seed 
All nations shall be blest : he straight obeys, 
Not knowing to what land, yet firm believes. 
I see him (but thon canst not), with what faith 
He leaves liis gods, his friends, and native soil, 
Ur of Chaldaea, passing now the ford 
To Haran ; after him a cumbrous train 
Of herds, and flocks, and numerous servitude ; 
Not wandering jioor, but trusting all his wealth 
With God, who called him in a land unknown. 
Canaan he now attains : I see his tents 
Pitched about Sichem, and the neighbouring plain 
Of Moreh ; there, by promise, he recieves 
Gift to his progeny of all that land. 
From Hamath northward to the desert south 
(Things by their names T call, though yet unnamed) 
From Hermon east to the great western sea ; 
Mount Hermon, yonder sea ; each ))lace behold 



PAKzVJJiSE LOST. 279 

In prospect, as I point them ; on the shore 

Mount Carmel ; here the double-founted stream, 

Jordan, true limit eastward : but his sons 

Sliall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills. 

This ponder, that all nations of the earth 

Shall in his seed be blessed : by that seed 

Is meant thy great Deliverer, who shall bruise 

The serpent's head ; whereof to thee anon 

Plainlier shall be revealed. This patriarch blest, 

Whom faitliful Abraham due time shall call, 

A son, and of his son a grandchild, leaves ; 

Like him in faith, in wisdom, and renown. 

The grandchild, with twelve sons increased, departs 

From Canaan, to a land hereafter called 

Egj'pt, divided by the river Nile : 

See where it flows, disgorging at seven mouths 

Into the sea. To sojourn in that land 

He comes, invited by a younger son 

In time of dearth ; a son, whose worthy deeds 

Raise him to be the second in that realm 

Of Pharaoh : there he dies, and leaves his race 

Growing into a nation ; and, now grown. 

Suspected to a sequent king, who seeks 

To stop their overgrowth, as inmate guests 

Too numerous ; whence of guests he makes them slaves 

Inhospitably ; and kills their infant males : 

Till by two brethren (these two brethren call 

Moses and Aaron) sent from God to claim 

His people from enthralment, they return 

"With glory, and spoil, back to their promised land. 

But first the lawless tyrant, who denies 

To know their God, or message to regard, 

Must be com])elled by signs, and judgments dire; 

To blood unshed the rivers must be turned ; 

Frogs, lice, and flies, must all his palace fill 

With loathed intrusion, and fill all the land ; 

His cattle must of rot and murrain die ; 

Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss, ' 

And all his people ; thunder mixed with hail. 

Hail mixed with fire, must rend the Egyptian sky. 



280 PAEADISE LOST. 

And wheel on the earth, devouring where it rolls 

What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain, 

A darksome cloud of locusts swarming down 

Must eat, and on the ground leave nothing green ; 

Darkness must overshadow all his bounds. 

Palpable darkness, and blot out three days : 

Last, with one midnight-stroke, all the first-bom 

Of Egypt must lie dead. Thus with ten wounds 

The river-dragon tamed at length submits 

To let his sojourners depart, and oft 

Humbles his stubborn heart, but still, as ice 

More hardened after thaw : till in his rage 

Pursuing whom he late dismissed, the sea 

Swallows him with his host, but them lets pass, 

As on dry land, between two crystal walls, 

Awed by the rod of Moses so to stand 

Divided, till his rescued gain their shore : 

Such wondrous power God to his saint will lend, 

Though present in his angel, who shall go 

Before them in a cloud, and ])illar of fire 

(By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire), 

To guide them in their journey, and remove 

Behind them, while the obdurate king pui'sues. 

All night he will })ursue ; but his approach 

Darkness defends between, till morning watch ; 

Then through the fiery pillar, and the cloud, 

God looking forth will trouble all his host, 

And craze their chariot-wheels : when, by command 

Moses once moi-e his potent rod extends 

Over the sea ; the sea his rod obeys ; 

On their embattled ranks the waves return, 

And overwhelm their war. The race elect. 

Safe towards Canaan, from the shore advance 

Through the wild desert ; not the readiest way, 

Lest, entering on the Canaanite alai-med, 

War terrify them inexy)ert, and fear 

Return them back to Egj'pt, choosing rather 

Inglorious life with servitude ; for life 

To noble and ignoble is more sweet 

Untrained in arms, where rashness leads not on. 



PARADISE LOST. 281 

This also shall they gain by their delay 

In the wide wilderness : there they shall found 

Their government, and their great senate choose 

Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws ordained. 

God from the mount of Sinai (whose gray top 

Shall tremble, he descending) will himself 

In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets' sound, 

Ordain them laws ; part, such as appertain 

To civil justice, part, religious rites 

Of sacrifice ; informing tliem, by types 

And shadows, of that destined Seed to bruise 

The serpent, by what means he shall achieve 

Mankind's deliverance : but the voice of God 

To mortal ear is dreadful ; they beseech 

That Moses might report to them his will, 

And terror cease : he grants what they besought, 

Instructed that to God is no access 

Without Mediator, whose high office now 

Moses in figure bears, to introduce 

One greater, of whose day he shall foretell ; 

And all the prophets in their age the times 

Of great Messiah shall sing. Thus laws and rites 

Established, such delight hath God in men 

Obedient to his will, that he vouchsafes 

Among them to set up his tabernacle, 

The Holy One with mortal men to dwell. 

By his prescript a sanctuary is framed 

Of cedar, overlaid with gold ; therein 

An ark, and in the ark his testimony, 

The records of his covenant ; over these 

A mercy-seat of gold, between the wings 

Of two bright cherubim ; before him burn 

Seven lamps, as in a zodiac representing 

The heavenly fires ; over the tent a cloud 

Shall rest by day, a fiery gleam by night, 

Save when they journey : and at length they come^ 

Conducted by his angel, to the land 

Promised to Abraham and his seed. The rest • 

Were long to tell; how many battles fought; 

How many kings destroyed, and kingdoms won ; 



282 PABADI8K LOST. 

Or how the sun shall in mid-heaven stand stiU 
A day entire, and night's due course adjourn, 
Man's voice commanding, * Sun, in Gibeon stand, 
And thou, moon, in the vale of Ajalon, 
Till Israel overcome ! ' so called the third 
F'rom Abraham, son of Isaac ; and from him 
His whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win." 

Here Adam interposed : " O sent from Heaven, 
Enlight'ner of my darkness ! gracious things 
Thou hast revealed ; those chiefly, which concern 
Just Abraham and his seed : now first I find 
Inline eyes true opening, and my heart much eased, 
Erewhile perplexed with thoughts what would become 
Of me and all mankind ; but now I see 
His day, in whom all nations shall be blest, 
Favour unmerited by me, who sought 
Forbidden knowledge by forbidden means. 
This yet I apprehend not, why to those 
Among whom God will deign to dwell on earth 
So many and so various laws are given ; 
So many laws argue so many sins 
Among them ; how can God with such reside ?" 

To whom thus Micliael : " Doubt not but that sin 
Will reign among them, as of thee begot ; 
And therefore was law given them to evince 
Their natural pravity, by stirring up 
Sin against law to fight : that when they see 
Law can discover sin, but not remove. 
Save by those shadowy expiations weak, 
The blood of bulls and goats, they may conclude 
Some blood more precious must be paid for man, 
Just for unjust, that in such righteousness, 
To them by faith imputed, they may find 
Justification towards God, and peace 
Of conscience, which the law by ceremonies 
Cannot appease, nor man the moral part 
Perform ; and, not performing, cannot live. 
So law appears imperfect, and but given 
With purpose to resign them in full time 
Up to a better covenant ; disciplined 



PARADISE LOST. 283 

From shadowy types to truth ; from flesh to spirit ; 

From imposition of strict laws to free 

Acceptance of large grace ; from servile fear 

To filial ; works of law to works of faith. 

And therefore shall not Moses, though of God 

Highly beloved, being but the minister 

Of law, his people into Canaan lead ; 

But Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call, 

His name and oifice bearing, who shall quell 

The adversary serpent, and bring back 

Through the world's wilderness long-wandered man 

Safe to eternal Paradise of rest. 

MeanAvhile they, in their earthly Canaan placed, 

Long time shall dwell and prosper, but when sins 

National interrupt their public peace, 

Provoking God to raise them enemies ; 

From whom as oft he saves them penitent, 

By judges first, then under kings ; of whom 

The second, both for piety renowned 

And puissant deeds, a promise shall receive 

Irrevocable, that his regal throne 

For ever shall endure ; the like shall sing 

All prophecy, that of the royal stock 

Of David (so I name this king) shall rise 

A son, the woman's seed to thee foretold. 

Foretold to Abraham, as in whom shall trust 

All nations ; and to kings foretold, of kings 

The last ; for of his reign shall be no end. 

But first, a long succession must ensue. 

And his next son, for wealth and wisdom famed, 

The clouded ark of God, till then in tents 

Wandering, shall in a glorious temple enshrine. 

Such follow him as shall be registered, 

Part good, part bad, of bad the longer scroll, 

Whose foul idolatries, and other faults 

Heaped to the popular sum, will so incense 

God, as to leave them, and expose their land, , 

Their city, his temi)le, and his holy ark. 

With all his sacred things, a scorn and prey 

To that proud city, whose high walls thou saw'st 



284 PARADISE LOST. 

Left in confusion, Babylon thence called. 

There in captivity he lets them dwell 

The space of seventy years, then brings them back, 

Remembering mercy, and his covenant sworn 

To David, 'stablished as the days of Heaven. 

Returned from Babylon by leave of kings, 

Their lords, whom God disposed, the house of God 

They first re-edify, and for a while 

In mean estate live moderate ; till, grown 

In wealth and multitude, factious they grow ; 

But first among the priests dissension springs ; 

Men who attend the altar, and should most 

Endeavour peace : their strife pollution brings 

Upon the temple itself : at last they seize 

The sceptre, and regard not David's sons, 

Tlien lose it to a stranger, that the true 

Anointed King, Messiah, might be born 

Barred of his right ; yet at his birth a star, 

Unseen before in Heaven, proclaims him come, 

A.nd guides the eastern sages, wlio inquire 

His place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold : 

His place of birth a solemn angel tells 

To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night ; 

They gladly thither haste, and by a quire 

Of squadroned angels hear his carol sung. 

A virgin is his mother, but his sire 

The power of the Most High ; he shall ascend 

The throne hereditary, and bound his reign 

With earth's wide bounds, his glory with the Heavens." 

He ceased, discerning Adam with such joy 
Surcharged, as had like grief been dewed in tears, 
Without the vent of words, which these he breathed : 

" O prophet of glad tidings ! finisher 
Of utmost hope ! now clear I understand 
What oft my steadiest thoughts have searched in vain ; 
Why our great expectation should be called 
' The seed of woman.' Virgin mother, hail ! 
High in the love of Heaven ! yet from my loins 
Thou shalt proceed, and from thy womb the Son 
Of God Most High; so God with man unites. 



PARADISE LOST. 285 

Needs must the serpent now his capital bruise 
Expect with mortal pain : say where and when 
Their fight, what stroke shall bruise the victor's heel." 
To whom thus Michael : " Dream not of their fight 
As of a duel, or the local wounds 
Of head or heel : not therefore joins the Son 
Manhood to Godhead, Avith more strength to foil 
Thy enemy ; nor so is overcome 
Satan, whose fall from Heaven, a deadlier bruise, 
Disabled not to give thee thy death's wound : 
"Which he, who comes thy Saviour, shall re-cure, 
Not by destroying Satan, but his works 
In thee and in thy seed : nor can this be, 
But by fulfilling that which thou didst want. 
Obedience to the law of God, imposed 
On penalty of death, and suffering death, 
The penalty to thy transgression due. 
And due to theirs which out of thine will grow : 
So only can high justice rest appaid. 
The law of God exact he shall fulfil 
Both by obedience and by love, though love 
Alone fulfil the law ; thy punishment 
He shall endure by coming in the flesh 
To a reproachful life and cursed death, 
Proclaiming life to all who shall believe 
In his redemption, and that his obedience 
Imputed becomes theirs by faith, his merits 
To save them, not their own, though legal, works. 
For this he shall live hated, be blasi)hemed. 
Seized on by force, judged, and to death condemned 
A shameful and accursed ; nailed to the cross 
By his own nation ; slain for bringing life : 
But to the cross he nails thy enemies, 
The law that is against thee, and the sins 
Of all mankind, with him there crucified. 
Never to hurt them more who rightly trust , 

In this his satisfaction : so he dies, 
But soon revives ; death over him no power 
Shall long usurp ; ere the third dawning light 
Return, the stars of morn shall see him rise 



286 PARADISE LOST. 

Out of his grave, fresh as the dawning light, 

Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems, 

His death for man, as many as offered life 

Neglect not, and the benefit embrace 

By faith not void of works : this God-like act 

Annuls thy doom, the death thou shouldst hai'e died 

In sin for ever lost from life ; this act 

Shall bruise the head of Satan, crush his strength, 

Defeating sin and death, his two main arms, 

And fix far deeper in his head their stings 

Than temporal death shall bruise the victor's heel, 

Or theirs whom he redeems, a death like sleep, 

A fjentle wafting to immortal life. 

Nor after resurrection shall he stay 

Longer on earth than certain times to appear 

To his disciples, men who in his life 

Still followed him ; to them shall leave in charge 

To teach all nations what of him they learned 

And his salvation, them who shall believe. 

Baptizing in the profluent stream, the sign 

Of washing them from guilt of sin to life 

Pure, and in mind prepared, if so befall. 

For death, like that which the Redeemer died. 

All nations they shall teach ; for, from that day. 

Not only to the sons of Abraham's loins 

Salvation shall be preached, but to the sons 

Of Abraham's faith wherever through the world; 

So in his seed all nations shall be blest. 

Then to the Heaven of Heavens he shall ascend 

With victory, triumjihing through the air 

Over his foes and thine ; there shall surprise 

The serpent, prince of air, and drag in chains 

Through all his realm, and there confounded leave ; 

Then enter into glory, and resume 

His seat at God's right hand, exalted high 

Above all names in Heaven ; and thence shall come. 

When this world's dissolution shall be ripe, 

With glory and power to judge both quick and dead ; 

To judge the unfaithful dead, but to reward 

His faithful, and receive them into bliss, 



PABADISE LOST. 287 

Whether in Heaven or earth ; for then the earth 
Shall all be Paradise, far hapi)ier place 
Than this of Eden, and far happier days." 

So spake the archangel MichaC'l ; then paused, 
As at the world's great period ; and our sire, 
Replete with joy and wonder, thus replied : 

" Oh, goodness infinite ! goodness immense I 
That all this good of evil shall produce. 
And evil turn to good ; more wonderful 
Than that wliich by creation first brought forth 
Light out of darkness ; full of doubt I stand, 
Whether I should repent me now of sin 
By me done and occasioned, or rejoice 
Much more, that much more good thereof shall sf ring; 
To God more glory, more good-will to men 
From God, and over wrath grace shall abound. 
But say, if our Deliverer up to Heaven 
Must reascend, what will betide the few 
His faithful, left among the unfaithfid herd. 
The enemies of truth ? Who then sliall guide 
His people ? who defend ? Will they not deal 
Worse with his followers than with liim they dealt?" 

" Be sure they will," said the angel ; " but from Heaven 
He to his own a Comforter will send, 
The promise of the Father, who shall dwell 
His Spirit within them, and the law of faith 
Working through love, upon their hearts shall write, 
To guide them in all truth, and also arm 
With spiriti^al armour, able to resist 
Satan's assaults, and quench his fiery darts 
What man can do against them, not afraid, 
Though to the death ; against such cruelties 
With inward consolations recompensed, 
And oft supported so as shall amaze 
Their proudest persecutors ; for the Spirit, 
Poured first on his apostles, whom he sends 
To evangelize the nations, then on all 
Baptized, shall them with wondrous gifts endue 
To speak all tongues, and do all miracles. 
As did their Lord before them. Thus they win 



J88 PARADISE LOST. 

Great numbers of each nation to receive 

With joy the tidings brought from Heaven : at length 

Their ministry performed, and race well run, 

Their doctrine and their story written left, 

They die ; but in their room, as they forewarn, 

Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves, 

Who all the sacred mysteries of Heaven 

To their own vile advantages shall turn 

Of lucre and ambition, and the truth 

With superstitions and traditions taint 

Left only in those written records pure, 

Though not but by the Spirit understood. 

Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names, 

Places, and titles, and with these to join 

Secular power, though feigning still to act 

By spiritual, to themselves appropriating 

The S])irit of God, promised alike and given 

To all believers ; and from that pretence, 

Spiritual laws by carnal power shall force 

On every conscience ; laws which none shall find 

Left them enrolled, or what the Spirit within 

Shall on the heart engrave. What will they then 

But force the Spirit of grace itself, and bind 

His consort liberty? what, but unbuild 

His living temples, built by faith to stand. 

Their own faith, not another's? for on earth 

Who against faith and conscience can be heard 

Lifallible ? yet many will presume : 

Whence heavy persecution shall arise 

On all who in the worship persevere 

Of spirit and truth ; the rest, far greater part, 

Will deem in outward rites and specious forms 

Religion satisfied ; truth shall retire 

Bestruck with slanderous darts, and works of faith 

Rarely be found : so shall the world go on, 

To good malignant, to bad men benign, 

Under her own weight groaning, till the day 

Appear of respiration to the just. 

And vengeance to the wicked, at return 

Of him so lately promised to thy aid. 



PARADISE LOST. 289 

The woman's Seed, obscurely then foretold, 
Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord, 
Last in the clouds from Heaven to be revealed 
In glory of tht Father, to dissolve 
Satan with his perverted world, then raise 
From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined, 
New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date 
Founded in righteousness and peace and love, 
To bring forth fruits, joy, and eternal bliss." 

He ended ; and thus Adam last replied : 
" How soon hath thy prediction, seer blest. 
Measured this transient world, the race of time. 
Till time stand fixed ! Beyond is all abyss, 
Eternity, whose end no eye can reach. 
Greatly instructed, I shall hence depart, 
Greatly in peace of thought, and have my fill 
Of knowledge, what this vessel can contain ; 
Beyond which was my folly to aspire. 
Henceforth I learn that to obey is best, 
And love with fear the only God, to walk 
As in his presence, ever to observe 
His providence, and on him sole depend, 
Merciful oa or all his works, with good 
Still overcoming evil, and by small 
Accomplishing great things ; by things deemed weak 
Subverting worldly strong; and worldly wise 
By simply meek : that suffering for truth's sake 
Is fortitude to highest victory. 
And to the faithful death the gate of life : 
Taught this by his example, whom I now 
Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest." 

To whom thus also the angel last replied : 
" This having learned, thou hast attained the sum 
Of wisdom : hope no higher, though all the stars 
Thou knew'st by name, and all the ethereal powers, 
All secrets of the deep, all nature's works, • 

Or works of God in Heaven, air, earth, or sea, 
And all the riches of this world enjoyedst, 
And all the rule, one empire ; only add 
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable ; add faith, 

19 



290 PABADISB LOST. 

Add virtue, patience, temperance ; add lore, 

By name to come called charity, the soul 

Of all the rest : then wilt thou not be loth 

To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess 

A Paradise within thee, happier far. 

Let us descend now, therefore, from this top 

Of speculation ; for the hour precise 

Exacts our parting hence ; and see, the guards, 

By me encamped on yonder hill, expect 

Their motion, at whose front a flaming sword, 

In signal of i-emove, waves fiercely round ; 

We may no longer stay : go, waken Eve ; 

Her also I with gentle dreams have calmed 

Portending good, and all her spirits composed 

To meek submission : thou at season fit 

Let her Avith thee partake what thou hast heard, 

Chiefly what may concern her faith to know, 

The great deliverance by her seed to come 

(For by the woman's seed) on all mankind : 

That ye may live, which will be many days, 

Both m one faith unanimous, though sad, 

With cause, for evils past, yet much more cheered 

With meditation on the happy end." 

He ended, and they both descend the hill ; 
Descended, Adam to the bower where Eve 
Lay sleeping ran before, but found her waked ; 
And thus with words not sad she him received : 

" Whence thou return'st, and whither went'st, I know J 
For God is also in sleep ; and dreams advise. 
Which he hath sent propitious, some great good 
Presaging, since, with sorrow and heart's distress, 
Wearied I fell asleep : but now lead on; 
In me is no delay ; with thee to go. 
Is to stay here ; without thee here to stay. 
Is to go hence unwilling ; thou to me 
Art all things under Heaven, all places thou, 
Who for my wilful crime art banished hence. 
This further consolation, yet secure, 
I carry hence ; though all by me is lost, 
Such favour I unworthy am vouchsafed. 



PARADISE LOST. 291 

By me the promised Seed shall all restore ! '^ 

So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard, 
Well pleased, but answered not ; for now too nigh 
The archangel stood, and from the other hill 
To their fixed station, all in bright array. 
The cherubim descended; on the ground, 
Gliding meteorous, as evening mist. 
Risen from a river, o'er the marish glides, 
And gathers ground fast at the labourer's heel, 
Homeward returning. High in front advanced, 
The brandished sword of God before them blazed, 
Fierce as a comet, which with torrid heat, 
And vapour as the Lybian air adust. 
Began to parch that temperate clime ; whereat. 
In either hand the hastening angel caught 
Our lingering parents, and to the eastern gate 
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast 
To the subjected plain ; then disappeared. 
They, looknig back, all the eastern side beheld 
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, 
"Waved over by that flaming brand ; the gate, 
With dreadful faces thronged, and fiery arms : 
Some natural tears thoy di'opped, but wi])od them soo-" ', 
The world was all before them, where to choose 
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide ; 
They, hand in hand, with wandering stej)s and slow, 
Through Eden took their solitary way. 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



BOOK I. 



AKGXIMENT. 

The Babject proposed. Invocation of the Holy Spirit. John baptizing at 
the river Jordan. Jesus coming there, is bajitized; and is attested by 
the descent of the Huly Ghost, and by a voice from heaven, to be the Son 
of God. Satan, who is i)resent, flies up into the regions of the air ; 
where, suuimouing his infernal council, he acquaints them with his appre- 
hensions that Jesus is that seed of the woman destined to destroyall their 
power, and points out to them the necessity ot bringing the matter to proof, 
and of attemjjting to counteract and defeat the person from whom they have 
60 much to dread. Tliis office lie undertakes, and sets out on liis enter- 
prise. In the meantime, God, in the assembly of holy angels, declares 
that he has given up his Son to be tempted by Satan; but foretells that 
the tempter shall be completely defeated by him: upon which the angels 
sing a hymn of triumph. Jesus is led up by the Spirit into the wilder- 
ness, while he is meditating on the commencement of his great office of 
Saviour of mankind. He narrates, in a soliloquy, what divine and 
philanthropic impulses he had felt from his early youth, and how his 
mother, Mary, had acquainted him with the circumstances of his birth, 
and informed him that he was no less a i)erson than the Son of God; to 
which he adds what his own reflections and inquiries had supplied, in 
confirmation of this great truth, and particularly dwells on the recent 
attestation of it at the river Jordan. Our lord passes forty days, fasting, 
in the wilderness ; where the wild beasts become harmless in his pres- 
ence. Satan now appears under the form of an old peasant, and enters 
Into discourse with our Lord. Jesus replies. Satan rejoins with a descrip- 
tion of the difficulty of supporting life in tlie wilderness ; and entreats Josus, 
d he be really the Son of God, to manifest his divine power by changing 
some of the stones into bread. Jesus rejaoves him, and, at the same 
time, tells him that he knows who he is. Satan avows himself, and 
offers an artful apology. Our blessed Lord severely reprimands him, 
»nd confutes every part of his justification. Satan still endeavours to 
justify himself; and, professing his admiration of Jesus, and his regard 
lor virtue, requests to be permitted at a future time to hear more of his 
conversation ; but is answered, that this must be as he shall find per- 
mission from above. Satan then disappears, and the book closes with 
a short description of night coming on in the desert. 



I, WHO erewhile the happy garden sung, 
By one man's disobedience lost, now sing 
Recovered Paradise to all mankind. 



PARADISE REGAINED. 293 

By one man's firm obedience fully tried 
Through all temptation, and the tempter foiled 
In all his wiles, defeated and repulsed, 
And Eden raised in the waste wilderness. 

Thou S))irit, who ledst this glorious eremite 
Into the desert, his victorious field, 
Against the spiritual foe, and brought him thence, 
By proof the undoubted Son of God, inspire. 
As thou art wont, my prompted song, else mute, 
And bear through height or depth of nature's bounds, 
With prosperous wing full summed, to tell of deeds 
Above heroic, though in secret done, 
And unrecorded left through many an age ; 
Worthy to have not remained so long unsung. 

Now had the great proclaimer, with a voice 
More awful than the sound of trumpet, cried 
Repentance, and Heaven's kingdom nigh at hand, 
To all baptized : to his great baptism ilocked 
With awe the regions round, and with them came 
From Nazareth the son of Joseph deemed 
To tlie flood Jordan, came as then obscure, 
Unmarked, unknown ; but him the Baptist soon 
Descried, divinely warned, and witness bore 
As to his worthier, and would have resigned 
To him his heavenly office, nor was long 
His witness unconfirmed : on him baptized 
Heaven opened, and, in likeness of a dove, 
The Spirit descended, while the Father's voice 
From Heaven pronounced him his beloved Son. 
That heard the adversary, who, roving still 
About the world, at that assembly famed 
Would not be last ; and with the voice divine 
Nigh thunder-struck, the exalted Man, to whom 
Such high attest was given, a while surveyed 
With wonder ; then, with envy fraught and rage, 
Flies to his place, nor rests, but in mid air 
To council summons all his mighty peers, 
Within thick clouds, and dark, tenfold involved, 
A gloomy consistory ; and them amidst, 
With looks aghast and sad, he thus bespake: 



294 PARADISE REGAIXED. 

'* O aiiciimt i^ovrers of aii' and this wide world, 
For much more willingly I mention air, 
This our old conquest, than remember Hell, 
Our hated habitation ; well ye know 
How many ages, as the years of men. 
This universe we have possessed, and ruled, 
In manner at out will, the affairs of earth, 
Since Adam and his facile consort Eve 
Lost Paradise, deceived by me, though since 
With dread attending when tliat fatal wound 
Shall be inflicted by the seed of Eve 
Upon my head : long the decrees of Heaven 
Delay, for longest time to him is short ; 
And now, too soon for us, the circling hours 
This dreaded time have comjiassod, wherein we 
Must bide the stroke of that long-threatened wound. 
At least, if so we can, and by the head 
Broken be not intended all our power 
To be infringed, our freedom and our being, 
In this fair empire won of earth and air: 
For this ill news I bring, the woman's seed 
Destined to this, is late of woman born ; 
His birth to our just fear gave no small cause. 
But his grc)wth now to youth's full flower, disjilaying 
All virtue, grace, and wisdom to achieve 
Things highest, greatest, multij)lies my fear. 
Before him a great prophet, to proclaim 
His coming, is sent harbinger, who all 
Invites, and in the consecrated stream 
Pi'etends to wash off sin, and fit them so 
Purified to receive him pure, or, rather, 
To do him honour as their king; all come, 
And he himself among them was baptized. 
Not thence to be more pure, but to receive 
The testimony of Heaven, that who he is 
Thenceforth the nations may not doubt ; I saw 
The projiliet do him reverence ; on him rising 
Out of the water, Heaven above the clouds 
Unfold lier crystal doors ; thence on his head 
A perfect dove descend, whate'er it meant j 



PARADISE REGAINED. 21)6 

And out of Heaven the sovran voice I heard, 

'This is my Son beloved, in him am pleased..' 

His mother then is mortal, but his Sire 

He who obtains the monarchy of Heaven, 

And what will he not do to advance his Son? 

His first-begot we know, and sore have felt, 

When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep ; 

Who this is we must learn, for man he seems 

In all his lineaments, though in his face 

The glimpses of his Father's glory shine. 

Ye see our danger on the utmost edge 

Of hazard, which admits no long debate. 

But must with something sudden be ojyposed 

(Not force, but well-couched fraud, well woven snares) 

Ere in the head of nations he appear. 

Their king, their leader, and suju-eme on earth. 

I, when no other durst, sole undertook 

The dismal expedition to find out 

And ruin Adam, and the ex})loit performed 

Successfully ; a calmer voyage now 

Will waft me ; and the way found prosperous once, 

Induces best to hope of like success." 

He ended ; and his words imjiression left 
Of much amazement to the infernal crew. 
Distracted and surprised with deep dismay 
At these sad tidings ; but no time was then 
For long indulgence to their fears or grief : 
Unanimous they all commit the care 
And management of this main exiter])ri8e 
To him their great dictator, whose attempt 
At first against mankind so well had thrived 
In Adam's overthrow, and led their march 
From Hell's deep-vaulted den to dwell in light, 
Regents, and potentates, and kings, yea gods. 
Of many a pleasant realm and province wide. 
So to the coast of Jordan he directs 
His easy steps, girded with snaky wiles, 
\ATiere he might likeliest find this new-declared. 
This man of men, attested Son of God, 
Temptation and all guile on him to try ; 



296 PABADISB BEGAINED, 

So to subvert whom he suspected raised 

To end his reign on earth, so long enjoyed ; 

But, contrary, unweeting he fultilled 

The purposed counsel pre-ordained and fixed 

Of the Most High, Avho, in f ill frequence bright 

Of angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake : 

•' Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, 
Thou and all angels conversant on earth 
With man or men's affairs, how I begin 
To verify that solemn message, late 
On which I sent thee to the virgin pure 
In Galilee, that she should bear a Son 
Great in renown, and called the Son of God ; 
Then told'st her, doubting how these things could le 
To her a virgin, that on her should come 
The Holy Ghost, and the power of the Highest 
O'ershadow her : this man born and now up-grown, 
To shoAv him worthy of his birth divine 
And high prediction, henceforth I expose 
To Satan ; let him tempt and now assay 
His utmost subtlety, because he boasts 
And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng 
Of his apoatacy : he might have learned 
Less overweening, since he failed in Job, 
Whose constant perseverance overcame 
Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. 
He now shall know I can produce a man 
Of female seed, far abler to resist 
All his solicitations, and at length 
All his vast force, and drive him back to Hell, 
Winning by conquest what the first man lost 
By fallacy surprised. But first I mean 
To exercise him in the wilderness ; 
There he shall first lay down the rudiments 
Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth 
To conquer Sin and Death, the two grand foes. 
By humiliation and strong sufferance : 
His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength, 
And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh ; 
That all the angels and ethereal powers, 



PABADISE BEOAINED. 297 

They now, and men hereafter, may discern, 
From what consummate virtue I have chose 
This perfect man, by merit called my Son, 
To earn salvation for the sons of men." 

So spake the eternal Father, and all Heaven 
Admiring stood a space ; then into hymns 
Burst forth, and in celestial measures moved. 
Circling the throne and singing, while the hand 
Sung with the voice; and this the argument : 

" Victory and triumph to the Son of God 
Now entering his great duel, not of arms. 
But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles. 
The father knows the Sou ; therefore secure 
Ventures his filial virtue, though untried. 
Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er seduce, 
Allure, or teri-ify, or undermine. 
Be frustrate, all ye stratagems of Hell, 
And devilish machinations come to nought." 

So they in Heaven their odes and vigils tuned: 
Meanwhile the Son of God, who yet some days 
Lodged in Bethabara where John baptized. 
Musing, and much revolving in his breast. 
How best the miglity work he might begin 
Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first 
Publish his Godlike oflice now mature. 
One day forth walked alone, the Spirit leading, 
And his deep thoughts, the better to converse 
With solitude, till far from track of men. 
Thought following thought, and step by step led on, 
He entered now the bordering desert wild. 
And, with dark shades and rocks environed roiindl. 
His holy meditations thus pursued : 

" Oh, what a multitude of thoughts at once 
Awakened in me swarm, while I consider , 

What from within I feel myself, and hear 
What from without comes often to my ears, 
m sorting with my present state compared! 
When I was yet a child, no childish play 
To me was pleasing : all my mind was set 
Serious to learn and know, and thence to do 



298 PARADISE KEGAINED. 

What might be public good ; myself I thought 

Born to that end, born to promote all truth, 

All righteous things : therefore, above ray years, 

The law of God I read, and found it sweet ; 

Made it my whole delight ; and in it grew 

To such perfection, tliat ere yet my age 

Had measured twice six years, at our great feast 

I went into the temple, there to hear 

The teachers of our law, and to propose 

What might improve my knowledge or their own, 

And was admired by all. Yet this not all 

To which my spirit aspired : victorious deeds 

Flamed in my heart, heroic acts ; one while 

To rescue Israel from the Roman yoke. 

Then to subdue and quell o'er all the earth 

Brute violence and proud tyrannic power, 

Till truth were freed, and equity restored ; 

Yet held it more humane, more heavenly, first 

By winning words to conquer willing hearts, 

And make persuasion do the work of fear ; 

At least to try, and teach the erring soul, 

Not wilfully misdoing, but unaware 

Misled ; the stubborn only to subdue. 

These growing thoughts my mother soon perceiving, 

By words at times cast forth, inly rejoiced. 

And said to me apart, ' High are thy thoughts, 

O Son, but nourish them, and let them soar 

To what height sacred virtue and true worth 

Can raise them, though above example high ; 

By matchless deeds express thy matchless sire. 

For know, thou art no son of mortal man ; 

Though men esteem thee low of parentage, 

Thy father is the eternal king, who rules 

All heaven and earth, angels and sons of men : 

A messenger from God foretold thy birth 

Conceived in me a virgin ; he foretold 

Thou shouldst be great, and sit on David's throne, 

And of thy kingdom there should be no end. 

At thy nativity, a glorious quire 

Of angels, in the fields of Bethlehem, sung 



PARADISE EKGAINED. 299 

To shepherds, watching at their fohls by night, 

And tokl tliera the Messiali now was born, 

Where tliey miglit see him, and to thee they came, 

Directed to the manger where thou lay'st, 

For in the inn was left no better room : 

A star, not seen before, in heaven appearing, 

Guided the wise men thither from the east, 

To honour thee Avith incense, myrrh, and gold ; 

By whose bright course led on tliey found the place, 

Affirming it thy star, new-graven in heaven, 

By which they knew the King of Israel born. 

Just Simeon and prophetic Anna, warn'd 

By vision, found thee in the temple, and spake, 

Before the altar and the vested priest, 

Like things of thee to all that present stood.' 

" This having heard, straight I again revolved 
The law and pro])hets, searching what was writ 
Concerning the Messiah, to our scribes 
Known partly, and soon found of whom they spake 
I am ; this chiefly, that my way must lie 
Through many a haixl assay, even to the death, 
Ere I the promised kingdom can attain, 
Or work redemption for mankind, whose sins 
Full weight must be transferr'd upon ray head, 
Yet, neither thus dishearten'd, nor dismay'd. 
The tim.e prefix'd I waited ; when, behold 
The Baptist, (of whose birth I oft had heard. 
Not knew by sight,) now come, who was to come 
Before Messiah, and his way prepare ! 
I, as all others, to his bajjtism came, 
Which I believed was from above ; but he 
Straight knew me, and with loudest voice proclaim'd 
Me him, (for it was shewn him so from heaven,) 
Me him, whose harbinger he was ; and first 
Refused on me his baptism to confer, 
As much his greater, and was hardly won : 
But, as I rose out of the laving stream. 
Heaven open'd her eternal doors, from whence 
The Spirit descended on me like a dove ; 
And last, the sura of all, my Father's voice, 



300 PABADISE RKGAIJfED. 

Audibly heard from heaven, pronounced me his, 

Me his beloved Son, in whom alone 

He was well pleased ; by which I knew the time 

Now full, that I no more should live obscure ; 

But openly begin, as best becomes 

The authority which I derived from heaven. 

And now by some strong motion I am led 

Into this wilderness, to what intent 

I learn not yet ; perhaps I need not know, 

For what concerns my knowledge God reveals.'* 

So spake our Morning Star, then in his rise, 
And, looking roimd, on every side beheld 
A j)athless desert, dusk with horrid shades ; 
The way he came not having mark'd return 
Was difficult, by human steps untrod ; 
And he still on was led, but with such thoughts 
Accompanied of things past and to come 
Lodged in his breast, as well might recommend 
Such solitude before choicest society. 
Full forty days he pass'd, whether on hill 
Sometimes, anon in shady vale, each night 
Under the covert of some ancient oak. 
Or cedar, to defend him from the dew. 
Or harbour'd in one cave, is not reveal'd ; 
Nor tasted human food nor hunger felt, 
Till those days ended ; hunger'd then, at last. 
Among wild beasts : they at his sight grew mild, 
Nor sleeping him, nor waking, harm'd his walk. 
The fiery serpent fled, and noxious worm. 
The lion and fierce tiger glared aloof. 
But now an aged man in rural weeds. 
Following, as seemed, the quest of some stray ewe, 
Or withered sticks to gather, which might serve 
Against a winter's day when winds blow keen, 
To warm him wet returned from field at eve, 
He saw approach, who first with curious eye 
Perused him, then with words thus uttered spake : 

" Sir, what ill chance hath brought thee to this place, 
So far from path or road of men, who pass 
In troop or caravan ? for single none 



PARADISE REGAIXED. 301 

Durst ever, who returned, and dropped not beie 

His carcass, pined with hunger and with drouth. 

I ask the rather, and the more admire, 

For that to me thoii seem'st tlie man, whom late 

Our new baj^tizing prophet at the ford 

Of Jordan honoured so, and called thee Son 

Of God ; I saw and heard, for we sometimes 

"Who dwell this wild, constrained by want, come forth 

To town or village nigh (nighest is far) 

Where aught we hear, and curious are to hear, 

What happens new ; fame also finds us out." 

To whom the Son of God : "Who brought me hither 
Will bring me hence; no other guide I seek." 

" By miracle he may," replied the swain, 
"What other way I see not, for we here 
Live on tough roots and stubs, to thirst inured 
More than the camel, and to drink go far. 
Men to much misery and hardship born : 
But if thou be the Son of God, command 
That out of these hard stones be made thee bread; 
So shalt thou save thyself and us relieve 
With food, whereof we wretched seldom taste." 

He ended, and the Son of God replied : 
" Think'st thou such force in bread ? Is it not written 
(For I discern thee other than thou seem'st) 
Man lives not by bread only, but each word 
Proceeding from the mouth of God, who fed 
Our fathers here with manna? In the mount 
Moses was forty days, nor ate nor drank ; 
And forty days Elijah without food 
Wandered this barren waste; the same I now: 
Why dost thou then suggest to me distrust, , 

Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art ? " 

Whom thus answered the arch-fiend now undisguised 
*' 'Tis true, I am that spirit unfortunate, 
Who, leagued with millions more in rash revolt, 
Kept not my happy station, but was driven 
With them from bliss to the bottomless deep ; 
Yet to that hideous place not so confined 
By rigour unconniving, but that oft 



302 PAKADISE KEGAINBli. 

Leaving my dolorous jirison T enjoy 

Large liberty to round this globe of earth, 

Or range in the air, nor from the Heaven of HeaveDS 

Hath he excluded my resort sometimes, 

I came among the sons of God, when he 

Gave up into my hands Uzzean Job 

To prove him, and illustrate his high worth ; 

And when to all his angels he proposed 

To draw the proud king Ahab into fraud 

That he might fall in Ramoth, tliey demurring, 

I undertook that office, and the tongues 

Of all his flattering prophets glibbed with lies 

To his d(^struction, as I had in charge ; 

For what he bids I do. Though I have lost 

Much lustre of my native brightness, lost 

To be beloved of God, I have not lost 

To love, at least contemplate and admire 

What I see excellent in good, or fair. 

Or virtuous, I should so have lost all sense. 

What can be then less in me than desire 

To see thee and ap])roach thee, whom I know 

Declared the Son of God, to hear attent 

Thy wisdom, and behold thy Godlike deeds? 

Men generally think me such a foe 

To all mankind : why should I ? they to me 

Never did wrong or violence ; by them 

I lost not what I lost, rather by them 

1 gained what I have gained, and with them dwell 

Copartner in these regions of the world, 

If not disposer; lend them oft my aid. 

Oft my advice by presages and signs. 

And answers, oracles, portents, and dreams. 

Whereby they may direct their future life. 

Envy they say excites me thus to gain 

Companions of my misery and woe. 

At first it may be ; but long since with woe 

Nearer acquainted, now I feel by proof, 

That fellowship in pain divides not smart, 

Nor lightens aught each man's peculiar load. 

Small consolation then, were men adjoined : 



PARADISE REGAINED. 308 

This wminds me most (what can it less ?) that man, 
Man fallen sliall be restored ; I never more." 
To whom our Saviour sternly thus replied: 
" Desnrvedl y thou griev'st, composed of lies 
From the beginning, and in lies wilt end ; 
Who boast'st release from Hell, and leave to come 
Into the Heaven of Heavens. Thou com'st indeed, 
As a poor miserable captive thrall 
Conies to the place where he before had sat 
Among the prime in splendour, now deposed, 
Ejected, emptied, gazed, unpited, shunned, 
A spectacle of ruin or of scorn 
To all tlie host of Heaven : the happy place 
Im])arts to thee no ha])piness, no joy. 
Rather inflames thy torment, representing 
Lost bliss to thee no more communicable, 
So never more in Hell than when in Heaven. 
But thou art serviceable to Heaven's King. 
Wilt thou impute to obedience what thy fear 
Extorts, or pleasure to do ill excites ? 
What but thy malice moved thee to misdeem 
Of righteous Job, then cruelly to afflict him 
With all inflictions ? but his patience won. 
The other seryice was thy chosen task, 
To be a liar in four hundred mouths : 
For lying is thy sustenance, thy food. 
Yet thou pretend'st to truth ; all oracles 
By thee are given, and what confessed more true 
Among the nations ? that hath been thy craft, 
By mixing somewhat true to vent more lies. 
But what have been thy answers, what but dark. 
Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding, , 

Which they who asked have seldom understood. 
And not well understood as good not known? 
Whoever, by consulting at thy shrine. 
Returned the wiser, or the more instruct 
To fly or follow what concerned him most. 
And run not sooner to his fatal snare? 
For God hath justly given the nations up 
To thy delusions ; justly, since they fell 



304 PARADISE REGAIKED. 

Idolatrous : but when his purpose is 

Among them to declare his providence 

To thee not knoTVTi, whence hast thou then thy truth 

But from him or his angels president 

In every province ? who, themselves disdaining 

To approach thy temples, give thee in command 

What to the smallest tittle thou shalt say 

To thy adorers ; thou with trembling fear, 

Or like a fawning parasite, obey'st ; 

Then to thyself ascrib'st the truth foretold. 

But this thy glory shall be soon retrenched ; 

No more shalt thou by oracling abuse 

The Gentiles : henceforth oracles are ceased, 

And thou no more with pomp and sacrifice 

Shalt be inquired at Delphos or elsewhere, 

At least in vain, for they shall find thee mute. 

God hath now sent his living oracle 

Into the world to teach his final will, 

And sends his Spirit of truth henceforth to dwell 

In pious hearts, an inward oracle 

To all truth requisite for men to know." 

So spake our Saviour ; but the subtle fiend, 
Thougli inly stung with anger and disdain, 
Dissembled, and this answer smooth returned : 

" Sharply thou hast insisted on rebuke, 
And urged me hard with doings, which not will 
But misery hath wrested from me : where 
Easily canst thou find one miserable, 
And not enforced oft-times to part fromt ruth ; 
If it may stand him more in stead to lie, 
Say and unsay, feign, flatter, or abjure ? 
But thou art placed above me, thou art Lord ; 
From thee I can and must submiss endure 
Check or reproof, and glad to 'scape so quit. 
Hard are the ways of truth, and rough to walk. 
Smooth on the tongue discoursed, pleasing to the ear. 
And tuneable as sylvan pipe or song ; 
What wonder then if I delight to hear 
Her dictates from thy mouth ? Most men admire 
Virtue, who follow not her lore : permit me 



PARADISE EEGAINBD, 806 

To bear thee when I come (since no man comes), 
And talk at least, though I despair to attain. 
Thy Father, who is holy, wise, and pure, 
Suffers the hypocrite or atheous priest 
To tread his sacred courts, and minister 
About his altar, handling holy things, 
Praying or vowing, and vouchsafed his voice 
To Balaam reprobate, a prophet yet 
Inspired ; disdain not such access to me." 

To whom our Saviour with unaltered brow: 
" Thy coming hither, though I know thy scope, 
I bid not or forbid ; do as thou find'st 
Permission from above ; thou canst not more." 

He added not ; and Satan, bowing low 
His gray dissimulation, disappeared 
Into thin air diffused : for now began 
Night with her sullen wings to double-shade 
The desert ; fowls in their clay nests were couched ; 
And now wild beasts came forth the woods to roam. 

20 



306 PABADISE SEGALN^ED. 



BOOK II. 



AEOtTMENT. 

Phb; disciples of Jesus, uneasy at his long absence, reaso i araoDis;st them- 
jelves couceruing it Mary also gives vent to her maternal anxiety ; in 
aie expression of which she recapitulates many circumstances res]iecting 
the birth and early life of her Son. Satan again meets his infernal coun- 
;il, reports the bad success of his first temptation of our blessed Lord, 
and calls upon them for counsel and assistance. Belial proposes the 
tempting of Jesus -with women. Satan rebukes Belial for his dissolnte- 
oess, charging on him all the proflisacy of that kind ascribed by the jioets 
to the heathen gods, and rejects his i)roposal as in no respect likely to 
succeed. Satan then suggests other modes of temptation, particularly 
proposing to avail himself of the circumstance of our Lord's hungering: 
and, taking a band of chosen spirits with him, returns to resume his en- 
terprise. Jesus hungers in the desert. Night comes on; the manner in 
which our Saviour passes the niglit is described. Morning advances. 
Satan again appears to Jesus, and, after expressing wonder that he 
should be so entirely neglected in the wilderness, where others had been 
miraculously fed, tempts him with a sumptuous bauquet of the most 
luxurious kind. This he rejects, and the banquet vanishes. Satan, 
6nding our Lord not to be assailed on the ground of appetite, tempts Him 
again by offering him riches, as the means of acquiring power: this 
Jesus also rejects, producing many instances of great actions performed 
by persons under virtuous poverty, and specifying the danger of riches, 
ind the cares and pains inseparable from power and greatness. 

Meakwhilb the new-baptized, who yet remained 

At Jordan with the Baptist, and had seen 

Him whom they heard so late expressly called 

Jesus Messiah, Son of God declared. 

And on that high authority h:id believed, 

And with him talked, and with him lodged, I mean 

Andrew and Simon, famous after known. 

With others, though in holy writ not named, 

N^ow missing him their joy so lately found, 

So lately found, and so abruptly gone. 

Began to doubt, and doubted many days. 

And as the days increased, increased their doubt : 

Sometimes they thought he might be only shown, 



PABADISB REOAIXED. 30^ 

And for a time caught up to God, as once 

Moses was in the mount, and missing long ; 

And the great Thisbite, who on fiery wheels 

Rode up to Heaven, yet once agani to come. 

Therefore as those young propliets then with care 

Sought lost Elijah, so in each place these 

Nigh to Bethabara ; in Jericho 

The city of |)alms, ^non, and Salem old, 

Machferus, and each town or city walled 

On this side the broad lake Genezaret, 

Or in Pera^a ; but returned in vain. 

Then on the bank of Jordan, by a creek, 

Where winds with reeds and osiers whispering plajj 

Plain fishermen, no greater men them call, 

Close in a cottage low together got, 

Their unexpected loss and plaints out-breathed : 

"Alas, from what high hope to what relapse 
Unlooked for are we fallen ! our eyes beheld 
Messiah certainly now come, so long 
Expected of our fathers ; we have heard 
His words, his wisdom full of gi'ace and truth; 
Now, now, for sure, delivei-ance is at hand, 
The kingdom shall to Israel be restored : 
Thus Ave rejoiced, but soon our joy is turned 
Into perplexity and new amaze : 
For Avhither is he gone? what accident 
Hath rapt him from us ? will he now retire 
After appearance, and again prolong 
Our expectation ? God of Israel, 
Send thy Messiah forth, the time is come ; 
Behold the kings of the earth how they oppresi 
Thy chosen, to what height their power unjust 
They have exalted, and behind them cast 
All fear of thee ; ai'ise and vindicate 
Thy glory, free thy people from their yoke. 
But let us wait ; thus far he hath performed, 
Sent his Anointed, and to us revealed him, 
By his gi-eat pro|)het, pointed at and shown 
In public, and with him we have conversed ; 
Let us be glad of this, and all our fears 



808 PARADISE REGAINED. 

Lay on his providence ; he will not fail, 
Nor will withdraw him now, nor will recall. 
Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence ; 
Soon we shall see our hope, our joy return." 

Thus they out of their plaints new hope resume 
To find whom at the first they found unsought : 
But to his mother, Mary, when she saw 
Others returned from baptism, not her son, 
Nor left at Jordan, tidings of him none. 
Within her breast though calm, her breast though pure, 
Motherly cares and fears got head, and raised 
Some troubled thoughts, which she in sighs thus clad : 

" Oh what avails me now that honour high 
To have conceived of God, or that salute, 
* Hail, highly favoured, among women blest I ' 
While I to sorrows am no less advanced, 
And fears as eminent, above the lot 
Of other women, by the birth I bore. 
In such a season born when scarce a shed 
Could be obtained to shelter him or me 
From the bleak air ; a stable was our warmth, 
A manger his ; yet soon enforced to fly 
Thence into Egypt, till the murderous king 
Were dead, who sought his life, and missing filled 
With infant blood the streets of Bethlehem ; 
From Egypt home returned, in Nazareth 
Hath been our dwelling many years ; his life 
Private, unactive, calm, contemplative. 
Little suspicious to any king ; but now 
Full grown to man, acknowledged, as I hear, 
By John the Baptist, and in public shown. 
Son owned from Heaven by his Father's voice ; 
I looked for some great change ; to honour ? no, 
But trouble, as old Simeon plain foretold, 
That to the fall and rising he should be 
Of many in Israel, and to a sign 
Spoken against, that through my very soul 
A sword shall pierce : this is my favoured lot, 
My exaltation to aflictions high. 
Afflicted I may be, it seems, and blest ; 



PABADI6E BEGAIXBD. 809 

I will not argue that, nor will repine. 

But where delays he now ? some great intent 

Conceals hini : when twelve years he scarce had seen, 

I lost him, but so found, as well I saw 

He could not lose himself ; but went about 

His Father's business ; what he meant I mused^ 

Since understand ; much more his absence now 

Thus long to some great purpose he obscures. 

But I to wait with patieuce am inured: 

My heart hath been a storehouse long of things 

And sayings laid up, portending strange events, ' 

Thus Mary pondering oft, and oft to mind 
Recalling what remarkably had passed 
Since first her salutation heard, with thoughts 
Meekly composed awaited the fulfilling : 
The while her son tracing the desert wild, 
Sole but with holiest meditations fed, 
Into himself descended, and at once 
All his great work to come before him set ; 
How to begin, how to accomplish best 
His end of being on earth, and mission high : 
For Satan, witli sly preface to return, 
Had left him vacant, and with speed was gone 
Up to the middle region of thick air, 
Where all his potentates in council sat ; 
There without sign of boast, or sign of joy. 
Solicitous and blank he thus began : 

" Princes, Heaven's ancient sons, ethereal thrones, 
Demonian spirits now, from the element 
Each of his reigu allotted, rightlier called 
Powers of fire, air, water, and earth beneath. 
So may we hold our place, and these mild seats ' 

Without new trouble ; such an enemy 
Is risen to invade us, who no less 
Threatens than our expulsion down to Hell ; 
I, as I undertook, and with the vote 
Consenting in full frequence was empowered, 
Have found him, viewed him, tasted him, but find 
Far other labour to be undergone 
Than when I dealt with Adam first of men, 



310 PARADISE KKGAINED. 

Though Adam by his wife's allurement fell, 

However to tliis man inferior far, 

If he be man by mother's side at least, 

With more than human gifts from Heaven adorned, 

Perfections absolute, graces divine, 

And amplitude of mind to greatest deeds. 

Therefore I am returned, lest confidence 

Of my success with Eve in Paradise 

Deceive ye to persuasion over-sure 

Of like succeeding here : I summon all 

Rather to be in readiness, with hand 

Or counsel to assist ; lest I who erst 

Thought none my equal, now be over-matched." 

So spake the old serpent doubting, and from all 
With clamour was assured their utmost aid 
At his command ; when from amidst them rose 
Belial, the dissolutest spirit that fell, 
The sensualest, and, after Asmodai, 
The fleshliest incubus, and thus advised : 

" Set women in his eye, and in his walk, 
Among daugliters of men the fairest found; 
Many are in each region passing fair 
As the noon sky ; more like to goddesses 
Than mortal creatures, graceful and discreet, 
Expert in amorous arts, enchanting tongues 
Persuasive, virgin majesty witli mild 
And sweet allayed, yet terrible to approach, 
Skilled to retire, and in retiring draw 
Hearts after them tangled in amorous nets. 
Such object hath the power to soften and tame 
Severest temper, smooth the rugged'st brow, 
Enerve, and with voluptuous hope dissolve. 
Draw out with credulous desire, and lead 
At will the manliest, resolutest breast. 
As the magnetic hardest iron draws. 
Women, when nothing else, beguiled the heart 
Of wisest Solomon, and made him build, 
And made him bow to the gods of his wives." 

To whom quick answer Satan thus returned : 
" Belial, in much uneven scale thou weigh'st 



PABADISE RKGAISTKD. 311 

All otliers by thyself ; because of old 

Thou thyself doat'dst on womankind, admiring 

Their shape, their colour, and attractive grace; 

None are, thou think'st, but taken with such toys. 

Before the flood, thou, with thy lusty crew, 

False titled sons of God, roaming the earth, 

Cast wanton eyes on the daugliters of men, 

And coupled with them, and begot a race. 

Have we not seen, or by relation heard. 

In courts and regal chambers how thou lurk'st, 

In wood or grove by mossy fountain side, 

In valley or green meadow, to waylay 

Some beauty rare, Calisto, Clymene, 

Daphne, or Seraele, Antiopa, 

Or Amymone, Syrinx, many more 

Too long, then lay'st thy 'scapes on names adored; 

Apollo, Neptune, Jupiter, or Pan, 

Satyr, or Faun, or Sylvan ? But these haunts 

Delight not all ; among the sons of men. 

How many have with a smile made small account 

Of beauty and her lures, easily scorned 

All her assaults, on worthier things intent ! 

Remember that Pellean conqueror, 

A youth, how all the beauties of the east 

He slightly viewed, and slightly overpassed ; 

How lie surnamed of Africa dismissed 

In his prime youth the fair Iberian maid. 

For Solomon, he lived at ease, and full 

Of honour, wealth, high fare, aimed not beyond 

Higher design than to enjoy his state ; 

Thence to, the bait of women lay exposed; 

But he whom weattempt is wiser far 

Than Solomon, of more exalted mind. 

Made and set wholly on the accomplishment 

Of greatest things : what woman will you find. 

Though of this age the wonder and the fame, 

On whom his leisure will vouchsafe an eye 

Of fond desire ? or should she confident. 

As sitting queen adored on beauty's throne, 

Descend with all her winning charms begirt 



312 PAEADISE EEGAXBTBD. 

To enamour, as the zone of Venus once 

Wrought tliat effect on Jove, so fables tell ; 

How would one look from his majestic brow 

Seated as on the top of virtue's hill, 

Discountenance her despised, and put to rout 

All her array ; her female pride deject, 

Or turn to reverent awe ! for beauty stands 

In the admiration only of weak minds 

Led captive ; cease to admire, and all her plumes 

Fall flat and shrink into a trivial toy, 

At every sudden sligliting quite abashed ; 

Therefore, with manlier objects we must try 

His constancy, with such as have more show 

Of worth, of honour, glory, and popular praise ; 

Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wrecked ; 

Or that which only seems to satisfy 

Lawful desires of nature, not beyond ; 

And now I know he hungers where no food 

Is to be found, in the wide wilderness ; 

The rest commit to me ; I shall let pass 

No advantage, and his strength as oft assay." 

He ceased ; and heard their grant in loud acclaim ; 
Then forthwith to him takes a chosen band 
Of spirits likest to himself in guile 
To be at hand, and at his beck appear, 
If cause were to unfold some active scene 
Of various persons, each to know his part ; 
Then to the desert takes with these his flight ; 
Where still from shade to shade the Son of God, 
After foi'ty days' fasting had remained. 
Now hungering first, and to himself thus said :, 

"Where will this end? Four times ten days I've 
passed 
Wandering this woody maze, and human food 
Nor tasted, nor had appetite ; that fast 
To virtue I impute nut, or count part 
Of what I suffer here : if nature need not, 
Or God support nature without repast. 
Though needing, what praise is it to endure? 
But now I feel I hunger, which declares 



PABADISE REGAIKED. 313 

Nature hath need of what she asks ; yet God 
Can satisfy that need some other way, 
Though hunger still remain : so it remain 
Without this body's wasting, I content me, 
And from the stiug of famine fear no harm : 
Nor mind it, fed with better thoughts that feed 
Me hungering more to do my Father's will." 

It was the hour of night, when thus the Son 
Communed in silent walk, then laid him down 
Under the hospitable covert nigh 
Of trees thick interwoven ; there he slept, 
And dreamed as appetite is wont to dream. 
Of meats and drinks, nature's refreshment sweet ^ 
Him thought, he by the brook of Cherith stood, 
And saw the ravens with their horny beaks 
Food to Elijah bringing even and morn. 
Though ravenous, taught to abstain from what they 

brought : 
He saw the prophet also how he fled 
Into the desert, and how there he slept 
Under a juniper ; then how, awaked. 
He found his supper on the coals prepared, 
And by the angel was bid rise and eat, 
And eat the second time after repose. 
The strength whereof sufficed him forty days ; 
Sometimes that with Elijah he partook. 
Or as a guest with Daniel at his pulse. 
Thus wore out night ; and now the herald lark 
Left his ground-nest, high towering to descry 
The morn's approach, and greet her with his song : 
As lightly from his grassy couch up rose 
Our Saviour, and found all was but a dream ; 
Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked. 
Up to a hill anon his steps he reared. 
From whose high top to ken the prospect round, 
If cottage were in view, sheep-cote, or herd ; 
But cottage, herd, or sheep-cote none he saw, 
Only in a bottom saw a pleasant grove. 
With chaunt of tuneful birds resounding loud , 
Thither he bent his way, letermined there 



314 PARADISE REGAINED. 

To rest at noon, and entered soon the shade 

High roofed, and walks beneath, and alleys brown, 

That opened in the midst a woody scene ; 

Nature's own work it seemed (nature taught art), 

And to a superstitious eye the haunt 

Of wood-gods and wood-nymphs ; he viewed it round. 

When suddenly a man before him stood, 

Not rustic as before, but seemlier clad, 

A.S one in city, or court, or palace bred, 

A-ud with fair speech these words to him addressed : 

" With granted leave officious I return. 
But much more wonder that the Son of God 
In this wild solitude so long should bide 
Of all things destitute, and well I know, 
Not without hunger. Others of some note, 
As story tells, have trod this wilderness : 
The fugitive bond-woman with her son, 
Outcast Nebaioth, yet found here relief 
By a providing angel ; all the race 
Of Israel here had famished, had not God 
Rained from Heaven manna: and that prophet bold, 
Native of Thebez, wandering here was fed 
Twice by a voice inviting him to eat: 
Of thee these forty days none hath regard, 
Forty and more deserted here indeed." 

To whom thus Jesus : " What conclud'st thou hence J 
They all had need ; I, as thou seest, have none." 

" How hast thou hunger then? " Satan replied. 
"Tell me, if food were now before thee set, 
Wouldst thou not eat ? " " Thereafter as I like 
The giver," answei-ed Jesus. " Why should that 
Cause thy refusal ? " said the subtle fiend. 
" Hast thou not right to all created things ? 
Owe not all creatures by just right to thee 
Duty and service, not to stay till bid, 
But tender all tiieir power ? Nor mention I 
Meats by the law unclean, or offered first 
To idols, those young Daniel could refuse ; 
Nor proffered by an enemy, though who 
Would scruple that, with want opj)ressed? Behold, 



PABADISB BKGAINED. 315 

JiTature ashamed, or better to express, 

Troubled that tliou shonldst hunger, hath purveyed 

From all the elements her choicest store 

To treat thee as beseems, and as her Lord 

With honour ; only deign to sit and eat." 

He spake no dream, for as his words had end, 
Our Saviour lifting up his eyes, beheld 
In ample space, under the bi'oadest shade, 
A table richly spread, in regal mode. 
With dishes piled, and meats of noblest sort 
And savour, beasts of chase, or fowl of game. 
In pastry built, or from the spit, or boiled, 
Gris-amber-steamed ; all fish from sea or shore, 
Freshet, or purling brook, of shell or fin, 
And exquisitest name, for which was drained 
Pontus, and Lucrine Bay, and Afric coast. 
Alas ! how simple, to these cates compared, 
Was that crude apple that diverted Eve, 
And at a stately sideboard by the wine 
That fragrant smell diffused, in order stood 
Tall stripling youths rich clnd, of fairer hue 
Than Ganymed or Hylas ; distant more 
Under the trees now tripped, now solemn stood, 
N}Tnphs of Diana's train, and Naiades 
With fruits and flowers from Amalthea's horn, 
And ladies of the Hesperides, that seemed 
Fairer than feigned of old, or fabled since 
Of fairy damsels met in forest wide 
By knights of Logres, or of Lyones, 
Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore : 
And all the while harmonious airs were heard 
Of cLiming strings, or charming j^ipes, and winds 
Of gentlest gale Arabian odours fanned 
From their soft wings, and Flora's earliest smellfl. 
Such was the splendour ; and the tempter now 
His invitation earnestly renewed : 

" What doubts the Son of God to sit and eat ? 
Tliese are not fruits forbidden ; no interdict 
Defends the toucliing of these viands pure ; 
Their taste no knowledge works, at least of evil, 



31 B PAEADISE REGAINED. 

But life preserves, destroys life's enemy, 

Hunger, with sweet restorative delight. 

All these are spirits of air, and woods, and springs, 

Thy gentle ministers, who come to pay 

Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord : 

What doubt'st thou. Son of God ? Sit down and eat." 

To whom thus Jesus temperately replied : 
" Said'st thou not that to all things I liad right? 
And who withholds my power that right to use? 
Shall I receive by gift what of my own, 
When and where likes me best, I can command? 
I caij at will, doubt not, as soon as thou, 
Command a table in this wilderness. 
And call swift flights of angels ministrant 
Arrayed in glory on my cup to attend : 
Why shonldst thou then obtrude this diligence 
In vain, where no acceptance it can find? 
And with my hunger what hast thou to do ? 
Thy pompons delicacies I contemn. 
And count thy specious gifts no gifts, but guiles." 

To whom thus answered Satan malcontent : 
"Tliat I have also power to give thou seest; 
If of that power I bring thee voluntary 
What 1 might have bestowed on whom I pleased, 
And rather opportunely in this place 
Chose to impart to thy apparent need ; 
Why shouklst thou not accept it ? But I see 
What I can do or offer is suspect ; 
Of these things others quickly will dispose. 
Whose pains have earned the far fet spoil." With that 
Both table and provision vanished quite 
With sound of harpies' wings, and talons heard ; 
Only the importune tempter still remained. 
And with these words his temptation pursued : 

" By hunger, that each other creature tames. 
Thou art not to be harmed, therefore not moved ; 
Thy temperance invincible besides, 
For no allurement yields to appetite. 
And all thy heart is set on high designs, 
High actions; but wherewith to be achieved? 



PABADLSE BEGAIITED. 

Great acts require great means of enterprise ; 

Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth, 

A carpenter thy father known, thyself 

Bred up in poverty and straits at home, 

Lost in a desert here, and hunger-bit : 

"Which way or from what hope dost thou aspire 

To greatness? whence authority deriv'st? 

What followers, what retinue canst thou gain, 

Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude, 

Longer than thou canst feed them on thy cost ? 

Money brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms : 

What raised Antipater the Edomite, 

And his son Herod placed on Judah's throne 

(Thy throne), but gold that got him puissant friends? 

Therefore, if at great things thou wouldst arrive, 

Get riches first, get wealth, and treasure heap, 

Not difficult, if thou hearken to me : 

Riches are mine ; fortune is in my hand ; 

They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, 

While virtue, valour, wisdom, sit in want." 

To whom thus Jesus patiently replied : 
" Yet wealth without these three is impotent 
To gain dominion, or to keep it gained. 
Witness those ancient empires of the earth, 
In height of all their flowing wealth dissolved : 
But men endued with these have oft attained 
In lowest poverty to highest deeds : 
Gideon and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad. 
Whose offspring on the throne of Judah sat 
So many ages, and shall yet regain 
That seat, and reign in Israel without end. 
Among the heathen (for throughout the world 
To me is not unknown what hath been done 
Worthy of memorial), canst thou not remember 
QuJntius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus ? 
For I esteem those names of men so poor 
Who could do mighty things, and could contemn 
Riches though offered from the hand of kings. 
And what in me seems wanting, but that I 
May also in this poverty as soon 



317 



318 PAHADISE KEGAINBD. 

Accomplish what they did, perhaps, and more ? 

Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools, 

The wise man's cumbrance if not snare, more apt 

To slacken virtue, and abate her edge. 

Than prompt her to do aught may merit praise. 

"What if with like aversion I reject 

Riches and realms ; yet not for that a crown, 

Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns, 

Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights 

To him who wears the regal diadem. 

When on his shoulders each man's burden lies ; 

For therein stands the office of a king, 

Elis lionour, virtue, merit, and chief praise, 

That for the public all this weight he bears. 

Yel he who reigns within himself, and rules 

Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king ; 

Which every wise and virtuous man attains : 

And who attains not, ill aspires to rule 

Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes, 

Subject himself to anarchy within. 

Or lawless passions in him which he serves. 

But to guide nations in the way of truth 

By saving doctrine, and from error lead 

To know^, and knowing worship God aright, 

Is yet more kingly ; this attracts the soul, 

Governs the inner man, the nobler part; 

That other o'er the body only reigns. 

And oft by force, which to a generous mind 

So reigning can be no sincere delight. 

Besides, to give a kingdom hath been thought 

Greater and nobler done, and to lay down 

Far more magnanimous than to assume. 

Riches are needless, then, both for themselves, 

And for thy reason why they should be sought, 

To gain a sceptre, oftest better missed.*' 



PABADISE REGAINED. 319 



BOOK III. 



AKGUMENT. 



Satan endeavours to awaken in Jesus a passion for glory, by particu- 
larising various great actions performed by persons at an early period of 
life. Our Lord replies, by shewing the vanity of worldly fame, and cun- 
traets with it the true glory of religious patience and virtuous wisdom. 
Satan justifies the love of glory from the example of God himself, who 
requires it from all his ci-eatures. Jesus detects tlie fallacy of this ar- 
zunient, by shewing that, as goodness is tlie true ground on which glory 
is due to the great Creator, sinful man c^n have no riglit to it. Satan 
then urges our Lord respecting his claim to the throne of David ; he tells 
him, tliat the Isingdom of Judea, being at that time a province of Rome, 
cannot be got possession of witliout mucli jiersonal exertion on his part, 
and presses him to lose no time in beginning to reign. Jesus refers him to 
the time allotted for tliis, as for all other things ; and, after intimating 
somewhat respecting his own previous sufferings, asks Satan why lie 
should be solicitous for the exaltation of one wliose rising was de.stined to 
be his fall. Satan replies, that his own desperate state, by excluding all 
hope, leaves little room for fear ; and that, as his own punishment was 
equally doomed, he is not interested in preventing the reign of one, from 
whose apparent benevolence he might ratlier hope for some interference 
in his favour. Satan, still supposing that the seeming reluctance of Jesus 
tc be thus advanced, might arise from his being unacquainted with the 
world audits glories, conveys him to the summit of a high mountain, 
and from thence sliews him most of the kingdoms of Asia," pointing out 
to his notice some extraordinary military preparations of the Parthiana 
to resist the incursions of the Scythians. He then informs our Lord, 
that he shewed him this purposely, that he might see how necessary mili- 
tary exertions are to retain tlie possession of kingdoms, as well as to sub- 
due them at first ; and advises him to consider how impossible it was to 
maintain Judea against two such powerful neiglibours as the Romans 
and Parthians, and hew necessary it would be to form an alliance with 
one or other of tliem. At the same time, he recommends, and engages to 
secure to him that of the Parthians ; and tells him, that by tliis means 
his power will be defended from anything that Rome or Caesar might 
attempt agav^st it ; and that he will be able to extend his glory wide, 
and especially to accomplish what was particularly necessary to make 
the tlirone of Judea really the throne of David, the deliverance and res- 
toration of the ten tribes, still in a state of captivity. Jesus, having 
briefly noticed the vanity of military efforts, and tlie weakness of the arm 
of flesh, says that, when the time comes for ascending his allotted throne, 
he shall not be slack : he remarks on Satan's extraordinary zeal for the 
deliverance of the Israelites, to whom he had always shewn himself an 
enemy, and declares their servitude to be the consequence of their idol- 
atry ; but adds, that, at a future time, it may perliaps please God to re- 
call them, and restore them to their liberty and native land. 



320 PARADISE REGArtTBD. 

So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood 

A "svhile as mute, confounded what to say, 

What to reply, confuted and convinced 

Of his weak arguing, all fallacious drift ; 

At length, collecting all his serpent wiles, 

With soothing words renewed, him thus accosts : 

" I see thou know'st what is of use to know, 
What best to say canst say, to do canst do ; 
Thy actions to thj words accord, thy words 
To thy large heart give utterance due, thy heart 
Contains of good, wise, just, the perfect shape. 
Shoixld kings and nations from thy mouth consulti 
Thy council would be as the oracle 
Urim and Thumraim, those oraculous gems 
On Aaron's breast ; or tongue of seers old 
Infallible : or wert thou sought to deeds 
That might require the array of war, thy skill 
Of conduct would be such, that all the world 
Could not sustain thy prowess, or subsist 
In battle, though against thy few in arms. 
These godlike virtues wherefore dost thou hide, 
Affecting private life, or more obscure 
In savage wilderness ? Wherefore deprive 
All earth her wonder at thy acts, thyself 
The fame and glory, glory the reward 
That sole excites to high attempts, the flame 
Of most erected spirits, most tempered pure 
Ethereal, who all pleasures else despise, 
All treasures and all gain esteem as dross, 
And dignities and powers all but the highest? 
Thy years are ripe, and over-ripe ; the son 
Of Macedonian Philip had ere these 
Won Asia, and the throne of Cyrus held 
At his dispose ; young Scipio had brought down 
The Carthaginian pride ; young Pompey quelled 
The Pontic king, and in triumph had rode. 
Ytit years, and to ripe years judgment mature. 
Quench not the thirst of glory, but augment. 
Great Julius, whom now all the world admires, 
The more he grew in years, the more inflamed 



PARADISE REGAINED. 



321 



With glory, wept that he had lived so long 
Intjlorious : but thou yet art not too late." 

To whom our Saviour calmly thus replied : 
" Thou neitlier dost persuade me to seek wealth 
For empire's sake, nor empire to affect 
For glory's sake, by all thy argument. 
For what is glory but the blaze of fame, 
The people's praise, if always praise unmixed? 
And what the people but a herd confused, 
A miscellaneous rabble, who extol 

Things vulgar and, well weighed, scarce worth the praise F 
They praise, and they admire they know rot what, 
And know not whom, but as one leads the other ; 
And what delight to be by such extolled. 
To live upon their tongues and be their talk. 
Of whom to be dispraised were no small praise. 
His lot Avho dares be singularly good ? 
The intelligent among them and the wise 
Are few, and glory scarce of few is raised. 
Tliis is true glory and renown, when God, 
Looking on the earth, with approbation marks 
The just man, and divulges him through Heaven 
To all his angels, who with true applause 
Recount his praises : thus he did to Job, 
When, to extend his fame througli Heaven and earth. 
As thou to thy reproach mayst well remember, 
He asked thee, ' Hast thou seen my servant Job ?* 
Famous he was in Heaven, on earth less known ; 
Where glory is false glory, attributed 
To things not glorious, men not worthy of fame. 
They err who count it glorious to subdue 
By conquest far and wide, to over-run 
Large countries, and in fields great battles win, 
Great cities by assault : what do these worthies, 
But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and enslave 
Peacable nations, neighbouring, or remote, 
'Vlade captive, yet deserving freedom more 
Than those their conquerors, who leave behind 
Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove. 
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy, 

21 



322 PAKADTSK KEOATXED. 

Then swell with pride, and must be titled gods, 

Great benefactors of mankind, deliverers, 

Worshipped with temple, priest, and sacrifice ; 

One is the son of Jove, of Mars the other ; 

Till conqneror Death discover them scarce men, 

Rolling in brutish vices, and deformed. 

Violent or shameful death their due reward. 

But if there be in glory aught of good, 

It may by means far different be attained 

Without ambition, war, or violence ; 

By deeds of peace, by wisdom eminent. 

By patience, temperance : I mention still 

Him whom thy wrongs with saintly patience borne 

Made famous in a land and times obscure ; 

Who names not now with honour patient Job? 

Poor Socrates (who next more memorable ?) 

By what he taught and suffered for so doing, 

For truth's sake suffering death unjust, lives now 

Equal in fame to proudest conquerors. 

Yet if for fame and glory aught be done. 

Aught suffered ; if young African for fame 

His wasted country freed from Punic rage, 

The deed becomes unpraised, the man at least, 

And loses, though but verbal, his reward. 

Shall I seek glory, then, as vain men seek. 

Oft not deserved? I seek not mine, but his 

Who sent me, and thereby witness whence I am." 

To whom the tempter mui-muring thus replied : 
" Think not so slight of glory ; therein least 
Resembling thy great Father : he seeks glory. 
And for his glory all things made, all things 
Orders and governs ; nor content in Heaven 
By all his angels glorified, requires 
Glory from men, from all men, good or bad, 
Wise or imwise, no difierence, no exemption ; 
Above all sacrifice or hallowed gift 
Glory he requires, and glory he receives 
Promiscuous from all nations, Jew, or Greek, 
Or barbarous, nor exception hath declared ; 
From us, his foes pronounced, glory he exacts." 



PABADISB BBOAIinED. 

To whom our Saviour fervently replied : 
" And reason ; since his word all things produced, 
Though chiefly not for glory as prime end, 
But to show forth his goodness, and impart 
His good communicable to every soul 
Freely ; of whom what could he less expect 
Than glory and benediction, that is, thanks, 
The slightest, easiest, readiest recompense 
From them who could return him nothing else. 
And, not returning that, would likeliest render 
Contempt instead, dishonour, obloquy? 
Hard recompense, unsuitable return 
For so much good, so much beneficence. 
But why should man seek glory, who of his own 
Hath nothing, and to whom nothing belongs 
But condemnation, ignominy, aud shame ? 
Who for so many benefits received 
Turned recreant to God, ingrate and false, 
And so of all true good himself despoiled ; 
Yet, sacrilegious, to himself would take 
That which to God alone of right belongs ; 
Yet so much bounty is in God, such grace, 
That who advance his glory, not their own. 
Them he himself to glory will advance." 

So spake the son of God : and here again 
Satan had not to answer, but stood struck 
With guilt of his own sin, for he himself 
Insatiable of glory had lost all ; 
Yet of another plea bethought him soon : 

"Of glory, as thou wilt," said he, " so deem. 
Worth or not worth the seeking, let it pass: 
Bat to a kingdom thou art born, ordained 
To sit upon thy father David's throne ; 
By mother's side thy father ; though thy right 
Be now in powerful hands, that will not part 
Easily from ])ossession won with arms : 
Judea now, and all the promised land, 
Reduced a province under Roman yoke, 
Obeys Tiberius; nor is always ruled 
With temperate sway ; oft have they violated 



82ft 



824 PABADISE BEGAIXBD. 

The temple, oft the law with foul affronts, 

Abominations rather, as did once 

Antiochus: and think'st thou to regain 

Thy right by sitting still or thus retiring? 

So did not Maccabeus : he indeed 

Retired unto the desert, but with arms ; 

And o'er a mighty king so oft prevailed, 

That, by strong hand, his family obtained. 

Though priests, the crown, and David's throne usurped, 

With Modin and her suburbs once content. 

If kingdom move thee not, let move thee zeal 

And duty; zeal and duty are not slow; 

But on occasion's forelock watchful wait. 

They themselves rather are occasion best, 

Zeal of thy Father's house, duty to free 

Thy country from her heathen servitude ; 

So shalt thou best fulfil, best verify 

The prophets old, who sung thy endless reign ; 

The happier reign the sooner it begins : 

Reign then; what canst thou better do the while?" 

To whom our Saviour answer thus returned : 
'* All things are best fulfilled in their due time, 
And time there is for all things. Truth hath said : 
If of my reign prophetic writ hath told, 
That it shall never end, so when begin 
The father in his jnirpose hath decreed. 
He in whose hand all times and seasons roll. 
What if he hath decreed that I shall first 
Be tried in humble state, and things adverse, 
By tribulations, injuries, insults. 
Contempts, and scorns, and snares, and violence, 
Suffering, abstaining, quietly expecting. 
Without distrust or doubt, that he may know 
What I can suffer, how obey ? Who best 
Can suffer, best can do ; best reign, who first 
Well hath obeyed ; just trial ere I merit 
My exaltation without change or end. 
But what concerns it thee when I begin 
My everlasting kingdom? why art thou 
Solicitous ? what moves thy inquisition ? 



paradisk rk<;ainei). 325 

Know'st thou not that my rising is thy fall, 
And ray promotion will be thy destruction ? " 
To Avhom the tempter, inly racked, replied : 
" Let that come when it comes ; all hope is lost 
Of my reception into grace ; what worse ? 
For where no hope is left is left no fear : 
If there be worse, the expectation more 
Of worse torments me than the feeling can. 
I would be at the worst ; worst is my port, 
My harbour, and my idtimate repose, 
The end I would attain, my final good. 
My error was my error, and my crime 
My crime ; whatever for itseK condemned, 
And will alike be punished, whether thou 
Reign or reign not ; though to that gentle brow 
Willingly I could fly, and hope thy reign, 
From that ])lacid aspect and meek regard, 
Rather than aggravate my evil state, 
Would stand between me and thy Father's ire 
(Whose ire I dread more than the fire of Hell), 
A shelter and a kind of shading cool 
Interposition, as a summer's cloud. 
If I then to the worst that can be haste. 
Why move thy feet so slow to what is best, 
Happiest both to thyself and all the world, 
That thou who worthiest art shouldst be their king ? 
Perhaps thou linger'st in deep thoughts detained 
Of the enterprise so hazardous and high ; 
No wonder, for though in thee be united 
What of perfection can in man be found. 
Or human nature can receive, consider 
Thy life hath yet been private, most part spent 
At home, scarce viewed the Galilean towns. 
And once a year Jerusalem, few days' 
Short sojourn ; and what thence couldst thou observe? 
The world thou hast not seen, much less her glory. 
Empires, and monarchies, and their radiant courts, 
Best school of best experience, quickest insight 
In all things that to greatest actions lead. 
The wisest, unexperienced, will be ever 



326 PAKAUlSJi KEliAINKD. 

Timorous and loth, with uovice modesty 

(As he who, seeking asses, found a kingdom). 

Irresolute, unhardy, unadventurous : 

But I will bring thee where thou soon shalt quit 

Those rudiments, and see before thine eyes 

The monarchies of the earth, their pomp and slate, 

Sufficient introduction to inform 

Thee, of thyself so apt, in regal arts, 

And regal mysteries, that thou mayst know 

How best their opposition to withstand." 

With that (such power was given him then) he lock 
The Son of God uj) to a mountain high. 
It was a mountain at whose verdant feet 
A spacious plain, out-sti'etched in circuit wide, 
Lay pleasant ; from his side two rivers flowed. 
The one winding, the other straight, and left between 
Fair champain, with less rivers interveined, 
Then meeting, joined their tribute to the sea : 
Fertile of corn the glebe, of oil, and wine ; 
With herds the pastures thronged, with flocks the hills I 
Huge cities and high-towered, that well might seen 
The seat of mightiest monarchs, and so large 
The prospect was, that here and there was room 
For barren desert fountainless and dry. 
To this high mountain-top the tempter brought 
Our Savioui', and new^ train of words began : 

" Well have we speeded, and o'er hill and dale. 
Forest, and field, and flood, temples and towers, 
Cut shorter many a league ; here thou behold'st 
Assyria and her empire's ancient bounds, 
Araxes and the Caspian lake, thence on 
As far as Indus east, Euphrates west, 
And oft beyond ; to soutli the Persian bay. 
And inaccessible the Arabian drouth : 
Here Nineveh, of length within her wall 
Several days' journey, built by Ninus old, 
Of that first golden monarchy the seat, 
And seat of Salmanassar, whose success 
Israel in long captivity still mourns ; 
There Babylon, the wonder of all tongues, 



PAKADlSJi KJi<JAlKEL>. 827 

As ancient, but rebuilt by liim who twice 

Juflah and all thy father David's house 

Led cajitive, and Jerusalem laid waste, 

Till Cyrus set them free ; Persepolis 

His city there thou seest, and Bactra there; 

Ecbatana her structure vast there shows, 

And Ilecatompylos her hundred gates : 

There Susa by Choas])es, amber stream, 

The drink of none but kings ; of later fame 

Built by Emathian or by Parthian hands, 

The great Seleucia, Nisibis, and there 

Artaxata, Teredon, Ctesiphon, 

Turning with easy eye thou mayst behold. 

All these the Parthian, now some ages past, 

By great Arsaces led, who founded first 

That empire, under his dominion holds. 

From the luxurious kings of Antioch won. 

And just in time thou coni'st to have a view 

Of his great power ; for now the Parthian king 

In Ctesiphon hath gathered all his host 

Against the Scythian, whose incursions wild 

Have wasted Sogdiana ; to her aid 

He marches now in haste : see, though from far. 

His thousands, in what martial equipage 

They issue forth, steel bows and shafts theirs arms, 

Of equal dread in flight or in pursuit ; 

All horsemen, in. which light they most excel : 

See how in warlike muster they a])pear, 

In rhombs and wedges, and half-moons, and wings.** 

He looked, and saw what numbers numberless 
The city gates out-poured, light armed troops 
In coats of mail and military pride ; 
In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong, 
Prancing theirs riders bore, the flower and choice 
Of many provinces from bound to bound ; 
From Arachosia, from Candaor east, 
And Margiana to the Hyrcanian cliffs 
Of Caucasus, and dark Iberian dales. 
From Atropatia and the neighV)0uring plains 
Of Adiabeue, Media, and the south 



328 PARADISE REGAINED. 

Of Susiaiia, to Balsara's haven. 
He saw them in their forms of battle ranged, 
How quick they wheeled, and flying behind them shot 
Sharp sleet of arrowy showers against the face 
Of their pursuers, and overcame by flight; 
The field all iron cast a gleaming brown : 
Nor wanted clouds of foot, nor on each horn 
Cuirassiers all in steel for standing fight, 
Chariots or elephants indorsed with towers 
Of archers, nor of labouring pioneers 
A multitude with spades and axes armed, 
To lay hills plain, fell woods, or valleys fill, 
Or where plain was raise hill, or overlay 
With bridges rivers ])roud, as with a yoke ; 
Mules after these, camels and dromedaries, 
And waggons fraught with utensils of war. 
Such forces met not, nor so wide a camp, 
When Agrican, with all his northern powers, 
iesieged Albracca, as romances tell, 
The city of Gallaphrone, from thence to win 
The fairest of her sex, Angelica 
His daughter, sought by many prowest knights, 
Both Paynim, and the peers of Charlemain. 
Such and so numerous was their chivalry : 
At sight Avhereof the fiend yet more presumed, 
And to our Saviour thus his words renewed : 

" That thou mayst know I seek not to engage 
Thy virtue, and not every way secure 
On no slight grounds thy safety ; hear, and mark 
To what end I have brought thee hither, and shown 
All this fair sight : thy kingdom, though foretold 
By prophet or by angel, unless thou 
Endeavor, as thy father David did, 
Thou never shalt obtain : prediction still 
In all things, and all men, supposes means ; 
Without means used, what it predicts revokes. 
But say thou wert possessed of David's throne. 
By free consent of all, none opposite, 
Samaritan or Jew; how couldst thou hope 
Long to enjoy it quiet and secure, 
Between two such enclosing enemies, 



PARADISE KEiiAlNED. 329 

Roman and Parthian ? Therefore one of these 

Thou must make sure thy own : the Parthian first, 

By my advice, as nearer, and of late 

P"'ound able by invasion to annoy 

Thy country, and captive lead a\va;y her kings, 

Antigonus and old Hyrcanus, bound, 

Maugre the Roman : it shall be my task 

To render thee the Parthian at dispose ; 

Choose which thou wilt, by conquest or by league. 

By him thou shalt regain, without him not, 

That which alone can truly reinstal thee 

In David's royal seat, his true successor, 

Deliverance of thy brethren, those ten tribes 

Whose offspring in his territory yet serve, 

In Habor, and among the Medes dispersed ; 

Ten sons of Jacob, two of Joseph, lost 

Thus long from Israel, serving as of old 

Their fathers in the land of Egypt served. 

This offer sets before thee to deliver. 

These if from servitude thou shalt restore 

To their inheritance, then, nor till then. 

Thou on the throne of David in full glory. 

From Egypt to Euphrates, and beyond, 

Shalt reign, and Rome or Csesar not need fear." 

To whom our Saviour answered thus unmoved : 
" Much ostentation vain of fleshy arm. 
And fragile arms, much instrument of war 
Long in preparing, soon to nothing brought. 
Before mine eyes thou hast set ; and in my ear 
Vented much policy, and projects deep 
Of enemies, of aids, battles, and leagues. 
Plausible to the world, to me worth naught. 
Means I must use, thou say'st, prediction else 
Will unpredict and fail me of the throne : 
My time, I told thee (and that time for thee 
Were better farthest off), is not yet come ; 
When that comes, think not thou to find me slack 
On my part aught endeavouring, or to need 
Thy politic maxims, or that cumbersome 
Luggage of war there shown me, argument 
Of human weakness rather than of strength. 



330 PAKADISK KKGAINED. 

My brethren, as thou call'st them, those ten tribes 

I must deliver, if I mean to reign 

David's true heir, and his full sceptre sway 

To just extent over all Israel's sons. 

But whence to thee this zeal ? Where was it then 

For Israel, or for David, or his throne. 

When thou stood'st up his tempter to the pi'ide 

Of numbering Israel, which cost the lives 

Of threescore and ten thousand Israelites 

By three days' pestilence? Such was thy zeal 

To Israel then, the same that now to me. 

As for those captive tribes, themselves were they 

Who wrought their own captivity ; fell off 

From God to worship calves, the deities 

Of Egypt ; Baal next, and Ashtaroth, 

And all the idolatries of heathen round. 

Besides their other worse than heathenish crimes ; 

Nor in the land of their captivity 

Humbled themselves, or penitent besought 

The God of their forefathers ; but so died 

Impenitent, and left a race behind 

Like to themselves, distinguishable scarce 

From Gentiles, but by circumcision vain, 

And God with idols in their worship joined. 

Should I of these the liberty regard. 

Who, freed, as to their ancient patrimony, 

Unhumbled, unre|)entant, un reformed. 

Headlong would follow ; and to their gods, perhaps, 

Of Bethel and of Dan ? No, let them serve 

Their enemies, who serve idols with God. 

Yet he at length, time to himself best known, 

Remembering Abraham, by some wondrous call 

May bring them back repentant and sincere. 

And at their passing cleave the Assyrian flood, 

While to their native land with joy they haste, 

As to the Red Sea and. Jordan once he cleft. 

When to the promised land their fathers passed : 

To his due time and providence I leave them." 

So spake Israel's true king, and to the fiend 
Made answer meet, that made void all his wilea. 
So fares it when with truth falsehood contends. 



PARADISE RKGAINKD. 331 



BOOK IV. 



THE ARGUMENT. 

Satak, persisting in the temptation of our Lord, shews him imperial 
Rome in its grefitest splendour, and tells him tliat he might, with the 
greatest ease, expel Tiherins, restore the Romans to their liberty, and 
make himself master not only of the Koniau emiiire, but, by so doing, 
of the whole world, and inclusively of the throne of David. Our Lord, 
in reply, expresses his contempt of grandeur and worldly power, and 
notices the luxury, vanity, and iirofligacy of tlie Komans, declaring how 
little they merited to be restored to that liberty which tliey had lost by 
their misconduct. Satan, now des]ierate, to enhance the value of his 
proffered gifts, professes that tlie only terms on which he will bestow 
them, are onr Saviour's falling down and worshipping him. Our Lord 
expresses a firm but temperate indignation at such ii proposition, and re- 
bukes the tempter. Satan then assumes a new <;r(>Hnd of temptation, 
and, proposing to Jesus the intellectual gratifications of wisdom and 
knowledge, points out to him the celebrated seat of ancient learning, 
Athens, its schools, and other various resorts of learned teachers and 
their disciples. Jesus replies, by shewing the vanity and insufficiency of 
the boasted heathen philosophy. Satan, irritated at the failure of all 
his attempts, ujibraids the indiscretion of our Saviour in rejecting his 
offers: and, having foretold the sufferings that our Lord was to undergo, 
carries him back into the wilderness, and leaves him there. Night 
comes on: Satsm raises a tremendous storm, and attempts farther to 
alarm Jesus with frightful dreams, and terrific threatening spectres. A 
c^lm, bright, beautiful morning succeeds to the horrors of the night. 
Satan again presents himself to our blessed Lord; and takes occasion, 
once more, to insult him w ith an account of the sufferings which ho 
was certainly to undergo This only draws from our Lord a brief rebuke. 
Satan, now at the height of his dosi)eration, confesses that he had Ire- 
quently watched Jesus from his birth, purposely to discover if he was 
the Messiah, and as?iduously followed him, in hopes of gaining some 
advantage over him, which would most effectually prove that he was not 
really that Divine Person destined to be his " fatal enemy." In this he 
acknowledges that he has hitherto failed; but still determines to make 
one more trial. Accordingly he conveys him to the temple at Jerusalem; 
and, placing him on a pointed eminence, requires him to prove his di- 
vinity either by standing there, or casting himself down with safety. Our 
Lord" reproves the tempter, and manifests his own divinity l)y standing 
on this dangerous point. Satan, amazed and terrified, instantly falls, 
and repairs to his infernal compeers to relate the bad success of "his en- 
terprise. Angels con\ey our blessed Lord to a beautiful valley, and, 
wliile they minister to him a repast of celestial food, celebrate his victory 
in a triamphant hymn. 



3B2 PARADISE REGAIXED. 

Perplexed and troubled at his bad success, 

The tempter stood, nor had what to reply ; 

Discovered in his fraud, thrown from his hope 

So oft, and the persuasive rhetoric 

That sleeked his tongue, and won so much on Eve 

So little here, nay lost ; but Eve was Eve, 

This far his over-match, who, self-deceived 

And rash, beforehand had no better weighed 

The strength he was to cope with, or his own ; 

But as a man who had been matchless held 

In cunning, over-reached where least he thought, 

To salve his credit, and for very spite, 

Still will be tempting him who foils him still, 

And never cease, though to his shame the more ; 

Or as a swarm of flies in vintage time, 

About the wine-press where sweet must is poured, 

Beat off, returns as oft with humming sound ; 

Or surging waves against a solid rock. 

Though all to shivers dashed, the assault renew, 

Vain battery, and in froth or bubbles end ; 

So Satan, whom repulse upon repulse 

Met ever, and to shameful silence brought. 

Yet gives not o'er, though desperate of success. 

And his vain importunity pursues. 

He brought our Saviour to the western side 

Of that high mountain, whence he might behold 

Another plain, long, but in breadth not wide, 

Washed by the southern sea, and on the north 

To equal length backed with a ridge of hills, 

That screened the fruits of the earth and seats of nen 

From cold septcntrion blasts ; thence in the midsl 

Divided by a river, of whose banks 

On each side an imperial city stood. 

With towers and temples proudly elevate 

On seven small hills, with palaces adorned, 

Porches and theatres, baths, aqueducts. 

Statues and trophies, and triumphal arcs, 

Gardens and groves, presented to his eyes. 

Above the height of mountains interposed ; 

By what strange parallax, or optic skill 



PARADISE RKQAINKD. 838 

Of vision multiplied tb rough air, or glass 
Of telescope, were curious to inquire ; 
And now the tempter thus his silence broke : 
" The city which thou seest no other deera 
Than great and glorious Rome, queen of the earth 
So far renowned, and with the spoils enriched 
Of nations ; there the capitol thou seest 
Above the rest lifting his stately head 
On the Tarpeian rock, her citadel 
Impregnable, and there Mount Palatine, 
The imperial palace, compass huge, and high 
The structure, skill of noblest architects. 
With gilded battlements, conspicuous far, 
Turrets and terraces, and glittering spires. 
Many a fair edifice besides, more like 
Houses of gods (so well I have disposed 
My airy microscope), thou mayst behold 
Outside and inside both, pillars and roofs, 
Carved work, the hand of famed artificers 
In cedar, marble, ivory, or gold. 
Thence to the gates cast round thine eye, and see 
What conflux issuing forth, or entering in : 
Prjetors, proconsuls to their provinces 
Hasting, or on return, in robes of state ; 
Lictors and rods, the ensigns of their power, 
Legions and cohorts, turms of horse and wings : 
Or embassies from regions far remote 
In various habits on the Appian road, 
Or on the Emilian, some from farthest south, 
Syene, and where the shadow both way falls, 
Meroe, Nilotic isle, and more to west, 
The realm of Bocchus to the Black-moor sea ; 
From the Asian kings, and Parthian among these 
From India and the golden Chersonese, 
And utmost Indian isle, Taprobane, 
Dusk faces with white silken turbans wreathed, 
From Gallia, Gades, and the British west, 
Germans and Scythians, and Sarmatians north 
Beyond Danubius to the Tauric pool. 
AU nations now to Rome obedience pay, 



834 PARADISE REGAINED. 

To Rome's great emperor, whose wide domain 
In ample territory, wealth and power, 
Civility of manners, arts and arms. 
And long renown, thou justly mayst prefer 
Before the Parthian ; these two thrones except, 
The rest are barbarous, and scarce worth the sight, 
Shared among petty kings too far removed ; 
These haA-ing shown thee, I have shown thee all 
The kingdoms of tlie world, and all their glory. 
This em})eror hath no son, and now is old. 
Old and lascivious, and from Rome retired 
To Caprea;, an island small but strong 
On the Campanian shore, with purjwse there 
His horrid lusts in private to enjoy, 
Committing to a wicked favourite 
All public cares, and yet of him suspicious, 
Hated of all, and hating ; with what ease, 
Endued with regal virtues as thou art. 
Appearing, and beginning noble deeds, 
Mightst thou expel this monster from his throne 
Now made a sty, and, in his place ascending, 
A victor people free from servile yoke ? 
And with my help thou mayst ; to me the power 
Is given, and by that right I give it thee. 
Aim therefore at no less than all the world. 
Aim at the highest, without the highest attained 
Will be for thee no sitting, or not long. 
On David's throne, be ]u-ophesied what will." 
To whom the Son of God unmoved replied : 
*'.Nor doth this grandeur and majestic show 
Of luxury, though called magnificence, 
More than of arms before, allure mine eye, 
Much less my mind; though thou shouldst add to tell 
Their sumptuous gluttonies, and gorgeous feasts 
On citron tables, or Atlantic stone 
(For I have also heard, perhaps have read), 
Their wines of Setia, Gales, and Falerne^ 
Chios, and Crete, and how they quaff in gold, 
Crystal, and myrrliine cups, embossed with gems 
\nd Htuda of pearl, to me shouldst tell who thirst 



PARADISE EEGAINKD. 33£ 

And hunger still. Then embassies thou show'st 

From nations far and nigh : what honour that, 

But tedious waste of time to sit and hear 

So many hollow compliments and lies, 

Outlandish flatteries ? Then proceed'st to talk 

Of the emperor, how easily subdued, 

How gloriously ; I shall, thou say'st, expel 

A brutish monster : what if I withal 

Expel a devil who first made him such ? 

Let his tormentor conscience find him out ; 

For him I was not sent, nor yet to free 

That people victor once, now vile and base, 

Deservedly made vassal, who once just, 

Frugal, and mild, and temperate, conquered well, 

But govern ill the nations under yoke. 

Peeling their provinces, exhausted all 

By lust and rapine ; first ambitious gi'own 

Of triumph, that insulting vanity ; 

Then cruel, by their sports to blood inured 

Of fighting beasts, and man to beasts exposed, 

Luxurious by their wealth, and greedier still, 

And from the daily scene effeminate. 

What wise and valiant man would seek to free 

These thus degenerate, by themselves enslaved, 

Or could of inward slaves make outward free ? 

Know, therefore, when my season comes to sit 

On David's throne, it shall be like a tree 

Spreading and overshadowing all the earth. 

Or as a stone that shall to pieces dash 

All monarchves besides throughout the world. 

And of my kingdom there shall be no end : 

Means there shall be to this, but what the mean*, 

Is not for thee to know, nor me to tell." 

To whom the tempter impudent replied : 
" I see all offers made by me how slight 
Thou valuest, because offered, and reject'st : 
Nothing will please the difficult and nice, 
Or nothing more than still to contradict : 
On the other side know also thou, that I 
On what I offer set as high esteem. 



336 PARADISE REGAINED. 

Nor what I part with mean to give for nought ; 
All these which in a moment thou behold'st, 
The kingdoms of the world to thee I give ; 
For given to me, I give to whom I please, 
No trifle ; yet with this reserve, not else, 
On this condition, if thou wilt fall down, 
And worship me as thy superior lord. 
Easily done, and hold them all of me ; 
For what can less so great a gift deserve ? " 

Whom thus our Saviour answered with disdain 
" I never liked thy talk, thy offers less, 
Now both abhor, since thou hast dared to utter 
The abominable terms, impious condition ; 
But I endure the time, till which expired, 
Thou hast permission on me. It is written 
The first of all commandments, ' Thou shalt worship 
The Lord thy God, and only him shalt serve ; ' 
And dar'st thou to the Son of God propound 
To worship thee, accursed, now more accursed 
For this attempt bolder than that on Eve, 
And more blasphemous ? which expect to rue. 
The kingdoms of the world to thee were given, 
Permitted rather, and by thee usurped ; 
Other donation none thou canst produce : 
If given, by whom but by the King of Kings, 
God over all supreme ? If given to thee, 
By thee how fairly is the giver now 
Repaid ? But gratitude in thee is lost 
Long since. Wert thou so void of fear or shame, 
As offer them to me, the Son of God, 
To me my own on such abhoi-red pact, 
That I fall down and worship thee as God? 
Get thee behind me ; plain thou now appear'st 
That evil one, Satan for ever damned." 

To whom the fiend with fear abashed replied : 
" Be not so sore offended, Son of God, 
Though sons of God both angels are and men, 
If I to try whether in higher sort 
Than these thou bear'st that title, have proposed 
What both from men and angels I receive. 



PARADISE REGAINED. 337 

Tetrarchs of fire, air, flood, and on the earth 
Nations besides from all the quartered winds, 
God of this world invoked and world beneath ; 
Who then thou art, whose coming is foretold 
To me so fatal, me it most concerns. 
The trial hath endamaged thee no way, 
Rather more honour left and more esteem; 
Me nought advantaged, missing what I aimed. 
Therefore let pass, as they are transitory, 
The kingdoms of this world ; I shall no more 
Advise thee ; gain them as thou canst, or not. 
And thou thyself seem'st otherwise inclined 
Than to a worldly crown, addicted more 
To contemplation and profound dispute, 
As by that early action may be judged, 
"When slipping from thy mother's eye thou went'st 
Alone into the temple, there wast found 
Among the gravest rabbis disputant 
On points and questions fitting Moses' chair. 
Teaching, not taught ; the childhood shows the man. 
As morning shows the day. Be famous then 
By wisdom ; as thy empire must extend. 
So let extend thy mind o'er all the world 
In knowledge, all things in it comprehend : 
All knowledge is not couched in Moses' law, 
The Pentateuch, or what the prophets wrote : 
The Gentiles also know, and write and teach 
To admiration, led by nature's light ; 
And with the Gentiles much thou must converse, 
Ruling them by persuasion as thou mean'st; 
Without their learning how wilt thou with them. 
Or they with thee, hold conversation meet ? 
How wilt thou reason with them, how refute 
Their idolisms, traditions, paradoxes ? 
Error by his own arms is best evinced. 
Look once more ere we leave this specular mount 
Westward, much nearer by south-west, behold 
Where on the JEgean shore a city stands 
Built nobly, pure the air, and light the soil ; 
Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts 

22 



338 PAEADTSE REGAINED. 

And eloquence, native to famous wits 

Or hospitable, in her sweet recess, 

City or suburban, studious walks and shades; 

See thei-e the olive grove of Academe, 

Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird 

Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long ; 

There flowery hill Hymettus, with the sound 

Of bees' industrious murmur, oft invites 

To studious musing; there Ilissus rolls 

His whispering stream : within the walls then view 

The schools of ancient sages ; his who bred 

Great Alexander to subdue the world, 

Lyceum there, and painted Stoa next : 

There thou shalt hear and learn the secret power 

Of harmony in tones and numbers hit 

By voice or hand, and various-measured verse ; 

^olian charms and Dorian lyric odes. 

And his who gave them breath, but higher sung, 

Blind Melesigenes, thence Homer called, 

Whose poem Phoebus challenged for his own. 

Thence what the lofty grave tragedians taught 

In chorus or iambic, teachers best 

Of moral prudence, with delight received 

In brief sententious precepts, while they treat 

Of fate and chance, and change in human life; 

High actions and high passions best describing. 

Thence to the famous orators repair. 

Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence 

Wielded at will that fierce democratic. 

Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece 

To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne. 

To sage philosophy next lend thine ear, 

From Heaven descended to the low-roofed house 

Of Socrates ; see there his tenement. 

Whom well inspired the oracle pronounced 

Wisest of men ; from whose mouth issued forth 

Mellifluous streams that watered all the schools 

Of academics old and new, with those 

Surnamed Peripatetics, and the sect 

Epicurean, and the Stoic severe : 



pi^EADlSE REGAINED. 339 

These here revolve, or, as thou lik'st, at Lome, 
Till time mature thee to a kingdom's weight. 
These rules will render thee a king complete 
Within thyself, much more with em])ire joined." 

To whom our Saviour sagely thus replied : 
" Think not but that I know these things, or think 
I know them not ; not therefore am I short 
Of knowing what I ought : he who receives 
Light from above, from the fountain of light, 
No other doctrine needs, though granted true; 
But these are false, or little else but dreams, 
Conjectures, fancies, built on nothing firm. 
The first and wisest of them all professed 
To know this only, that he nothing knew ; 
The next to fabling fell and smooth conceits ; 
A third sort doubted all things, though plain sense ; 
Others in virtue placed felicity. 
But virtue joined with riches and long life ; 
In corporal pleasure he, and careless ease ; 
The Stoic last, in philosophic pride. 
By him called virtue ; and his virtuous man. 
Wise, perfect in himself, and all possessing, 
Equals to God, oft shames not to prefer, 
As fearing God nor man, contemning all 
Wealth, pleasure, pain, or torment, death and life, 
Which when he lists he leaves, or boasts he can. 
For all his tedious talk is but vain boast, 
Or subtle shifts conviction to evade. 
Alas! what can they teacli and not mislead, 
Ignorant of themselves, of God much more. 
And how the world began, and how man fell 
Degraded by himself, on grace depending? 
Much of the soul they talk, but all awry, 
And in themselves seek virtue, and to themselvea 
All glory arrogate, to God give none. 
Rather accuse him under usual names. 
Fortune and Fate, as one regardless quite 
Of mortal things. Who therefore seeks in tliese 
True wisdom, finds her not, or by delusion, 
Far worse, her false resemblance only meets, 



840 PARADISE KEGALNED. 

An empty cloud. However, many books, 

Wise men have said, are wearisome : who reads 

Incessantly, and to his reading brings not 

A spirit and judgment equal or superior 

(And what he brings, what needs he elsewhere seek ?), 

tJncertain and unsettled still remains. 

Deep versed in books and shallow in himself, 

Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys, 

And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge J 

As children gathering pebbles on the shore. 

Or if I would delight my private hours 

With music or with poem, where so soon 

As in our native language can I find 

That solace ? All our law and story strewed 

With hymns, our psalms with artful terms inscribed. 

Our Hebrew songs and harps in Babylon, 

That pleased so well our victors' ear, declare 

That rather Greece from us these arts derived ; 

111 imitated, while they loudest sing 

The vices of their deities, and their own 

In fable, hymn, or song, so personating 

Their gods ridiculous, and themselves past shame 

Remove their swelling epithets, thick laid 

As varnish on a harlot's cheek, the rest. 

Thin sown with aught of profit or delight, 

Will far be found unworthy to compare 

With Sion's songs, to all true tastes excelling, 

Where God is praised aright, and god-like men, 

The Holiest of Holies, and his saints ; 

Such are from God inspired, not such from thee, 

Unless where moral virtue is expressed 

By light of nature not in all quite lost. 

Their orators thou then extoll'st, as those 

The top of eloquence ; statists indeed, 

And lovers of their country, as may seem; 

But herein to our proi)hets far beneath. 

As men divinely taught, and better teaching 

The solid rules of civil government. 

In their majestic, unaffected style. 

Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome. 



PABADISK BEGAINED. 341 

[n tliein is plainest tauglit, and easiest learnt, 
What makes a nation happy, and keeps it so, 
What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat ; 
These only with our law best form a king." 

So spake the Son of God : but Satan now 
Quite at a loss, for all his darts were spent, 
Thus to our Saviour with stern brow replied: 

" Since neither wealth, nor honour, arms nor arts, 
Kingdom nor empire, pleases thee, nor aught 
By me proposed in life contemplative, 
Or active, tended on by glory or fame, 
What dost thou in this world ? The wilderness 
For thee is fittest place ; I found thee there, 
And thither will return thee ; yet remember 
What I foretell thee : soon thou shalt have cause 
To wish thou never hadst rejected thus 
Nicely or cautiously my offered aid, 
Which would have set thee in short time with ease 
On David's throne, or throne of all the world. 
Now at full age, fullness of time, thy season, 
When pro])hecies of thee are best fulfilled. 
Now contrary, if I read aught in Heaven, 
Or Heaven write aught of fate, by what the stars 
Voluminous, or single characters. 
In their conjunction met, give me to spell, 
Sorrows, and labours, opposition, hate, 
Attends thee, scorns, reproaches, injuries, 
Violence and stripes, and lastly cruel death ; 
A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom. 
Real or allegoric, I discern not, 
Nor when, eternal sure, as without end, 
Without beginning ; for no date prefixed 
Directs me in the starry rubric set." 

So saying he took (for still he knew his power 
Not yet expired), and to the wilderness 
Brought back the Son of God, and left him there, 
Feigning to disappear. Darkness now rose. 
As daylight sunk, and brought in louring night, 
Her shadowy offspring, unsubstantial both. 
Privation mere of light and absent day. 



342 PARADISE REGAINED. 

Our Saviour meek, and with untroubled mind 

After his airy jaunt, though hurried sore, 

Hungry and cold, betook him to his rest, 

Wherever, under some concourse of shades. 

Whose branching arms, thick intertwined, might shield 

From dews and damps of night his sheltered head, 

But sheltered slejit in vain, for at his head 

The tempter watched, and soon with ugly dreams 

Disturbed his sleep ; and either tropic now 

'Gan thunder, and both ends of Heaven, the clouds 

From many a horrid lift abortive poured 

Fierce rain with lightning mixed, water with fire 

In ruin reconciled : nor slept the winds 

Within their stony caves, but rushed abroad 

From the four hinges of the world, and fell 

On the vexed wilderness, whose tallest pines, 

Though rooted deep as high, and sturdiest oaks 

Bowed their stiff necks, loaden with stormy blasts, 

Or torn up sheer ; ill wast thou shrouded then, 

O patient Son of God, yet only stood'st 

Unshaken ; nor yet stayed the terror there, 

Infernal ghosts, and hellish furies, round 

Environed thee, some howled, some yelled, some shrieked, 

Some bent at thee their fiery darts, wliile thou 

Sat'st unappalled in calm and sinless peace. 

Thus passed the night so foul, till morning fair 

Came forth with pilgrim steps in amice gray, 

Who with her radiant finger stilled the roar 

Of thunder, chased the clouds, and laid the winds 

And grisly spectres, which the fiend had raised 

To tempt the Son of God with terrors dire. 

And now the sun, with more effectual beams, 

Had cheered the face of earth, and dried the wet 

From drooping plant, or dropping tree ; the birds, 

Who all things now behold more fresh and green, 

After a night of storm so ruinous. 

Cleared up their choicest notes in bush and spray 

To gratulate the sweet return of morn ; 

Noi yet amidst this joy and brightest morn 

Was absent, after all his mischief done, 



PARADISE REGAINED. 343 

The prince of darkness, glad would also seem 
Of this fair change, and to our SaA-iour came, 
Yet with no new device, they all were spent, 
Rather by this his last affront resolved. 
Desperate of better course, to vent liis rage, 
And mad despite to be so oft repelled. 
Him walking on a sunny hill he found, 
Backed on the north and west by a thick wood ; 
Out of the wood he starts in wonted shape, 
And in a careless mood thus to him said : 

" Fair morning yet betides thee, Son of God, 
After a dismal night ; I heard the wrack 
As earth and sky would mingle ; but myself 
Was distant ; and these flaws, though mortals fear them 
As dangerous to the pillared frame of Pleaven, 
Or to the earth's dark basis underneath, 
Are to the main as inconsiderable, 
And harmless, if not wholesome, as a sneeze 
To man's less universe, and soon are gone ; 
Yet as being oft-times noxious where they light 
On man, beast, plant, wasteful and turbulent. 
Like turbulencies in the affairs of men. 
Over whose heads they roar, and seem to point, 
They oft fore-signify and threaten ill : 
This tempest at this desert most was bent ; 
Of men at thee, for only thou here dwell'st. 
Did I not tell thee, if thou didst reject 
The perfect season offered with my aid 
To win thy destined seat, but wilt prolong 
All to the push of fate, pursue thy way 
Of gaining David's throne no man knows when, 
For both the when and how is no where told, 
Thou shalt be what thou art ordained, no doubt ; 
For angels have proclaimed it, but concealing 
The time and means: each act is rightliest done, 
Not when it must, but when it may be best. 
If thou observe not this, be sure to find. 
What I foretold thee, many a hard assay 
Of dangers, and adversities, and pains. 
Ere thou of Israel's sceptre get fast hold ; 



844 PARADISE KEGALNBD. 

Whereof this ominous night that closed thee round. 

So many terrors, voices, prodigies, 

May warn thee, as a sure foregoing sign." 

So talked he ; while the Son of God went on 
And stayed not, but in brief him answered thus : 

" Me worse than wet thou find'st not ; other harm 
Those terrors which thou speak'st of did me none ; 
I never feared they could, though noising loud 
And threatening nigh ; what they can do as signs 
Betokening, or ill boding, I contemn 
As false portents, not sent from God, but thee ; 
Who knowing I shall reign past thy preventing, 
Obtrud'st thy offered aid, that I accepting. 
At least might seem to hold all power of thee, 
Ambitious spirit, and wouldst be thought my God, 
And storra'st refused, thinking to terrify 
Me to thy will. Desist, thou art discerned, 
And toil'st in vain, nor me in vain molest." 

To whom the fiend, now swollen with rage, replied 
" Then hear, O Son of David, virgin-born ; 
For Son of God to me is yet in doubt : 
Of the Messiah I have heard foretold 
By all the prophets ; of thy birth at length 
Announced by Gabriel with the first I knew. 
And of the angelic song in Bethlehem neld. 
On thy birth-night, that sung thee Saviour born. 
From that time seldom have I ceased to eye 
Thy infancy, thy childhood, and thy youth, 
Tliy manhood last, though yet in priA-ate bred ; 
Till at the ford of Jordan, whither all 
Flocked to the Baptist, I among the rest, 
Though not to be baptized, by voice from Heaven 
Heard thee pronounced the Son of God beloved. 
Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view 
And narrower scrutiny, that I might learn 
In what degree or meaning thou art called 
The Son of God, which bears no single sense ; 
The Son of God I also am, or was, 
And if I was, I am ; relation stands : 
All men are sons of God ; yet thee I thought 



PARADISE REGAINED. 345 

In some respect far higher so declared. 

Therefore I watched thy footsteps from that hour. 

And followed thee still on to this waste wild ; 

Where by all best conjectures I collect 

Thou art to be my fatal enemy. 

Good reason then, if I beforehand seek 

To understand my adversary, who 

And what he is ; his wisdom, power, intent ; 

By parle, or composition, truce, or league 

To win him, or win from him what I can. 

And opportunity I here have had 

To try thee, sift thee, and confess have found thee 

Proof against all temptation, as a rock 

Of adamant, and as a centre, firm. 

To the utmost of mere man both wise and good, 

Not more : for honors, riches, kingdoms, glory, 

Have been before contemned, and may again ; 

Therefore to know what more thou art than man, 

Worth naming Son of God by voice from Heaven 

Another method I must now begin." 

So saying, he caught him up, and, without wing 
Of hippogrif, bore through the air sublime 
Over the wilderness and o'er the plain ; 
Till underneath them fair Jerusalem, 
The holy city, lifted high her towers. 
And higher yet the glorious temple reared 
Her pile, far off appearing like a mount 
Of alabaster, topped with golden spires : 
There on the highest pinacle he set 
The Son of God, and added thus in scorn : 

" There stand, if thou wilt stand ; to stand upright 
Will ask thee skill ; I to thy Father's house 
Have brought thee, and highest placed, highest is best } 
Now show thy progeny; if not to stand, 
Cast thyself down ; safely, if Son of God ; 
For it is written, ' He will give command 
Concerning thee to his angels, in their hands 
They shall up-lift thee, lest at any time 
Thou chance to dash thy foot against a stone.' " 

To whom thus Jesus : " Also it is written. 



846 PABADisB eega:ned. 

Tempt not the Lord thy God : " he said and stood : 

But Satan, smitten with amazement, fell. 

As when earth's son, Antasus (to compare 

Small things with gi-eatest) in Irassa strove 

With Jove's Alcides, and oft foiled still rose. 

Receiving from his mother earth new strength, 

Fresh from his fall, and fiercer grapple joined. 

Throttled at length in the air, expired and fell ; 

So after many a foil the tempter proud. 

Renewing fresh assaults amidst his pride 

Fell whence he stood to see his victor fall. 

And as that Theban monster that proposed 

Her riddle, and him who solved it not devoured, 

That once found out and solved, for gi-ief and spit« 

Cast herself headlong from the Ismenian steep ; 

So struck with dread and anguish fell the fiend, 

And to his crew, that sat consulting, brought 

Joyless triumphs of his hoped success, 

Ruin, and desperation, and dismay. 

Who durst so proudly tempt the Son of God. 

So Satan fell ; and straight a fiery globe 

Of angels on full sail of wing flew nigh. 

Who on their plumy vans received him soft 

From his uneasy station, and upbore. 

As on a floating couch, through the blithe air, 

Then in a flowery valley set him down 

On a green bank, and set before him spread 

A table of celestial food, divine. 

Ambrosial fruits, fetched from the tree of life, 

And from the fount of life ambrossial drink, 

That soon refreshed him wearied, and repaired 

What hunger, if aught hunger had impaired, 

Or thirst ; and as he fed, angelic quires 

Sung heavenly anthems of his victory 

Over temptation, and the tempter proud. 

" True image of the Father, whether throned 
In the bosom of bliss, and light of light 
Conceiving, or remote from Heaven, enshrined 
In fleshly tabernacle, and human form. 
Wandering the wilderness, whatever place. 



PARADISE RKGAUiTKD. 347 

Habit, or state, or motion, still expressing 

The Son of God, with godlike force endued 

Against the attemj^ter of thy Father's throne, 

And thief of Paradise ; him long of old 

Thon didst debel, and down from Heaven cast 

With all his army; now thou hast avenged 

Supplanted Adam, and by vanquishing 

Temptation, hast regained lost Paradise, 

And frustrated the conquest fraudulent : 

He never more henceforth will dare set foot 

In Paradise to tempt ; his snares are broke : 

For though that seat of earthly bliss be failed, 

A fairer Paradise is founded now 

For Adam and his chosen sons, whom thou 

A Saviour art come down to reinstal 

Where they shall dwell secure, when time shall be, 

Of tempter and temptation without fear. 

But thou, infernal serpent, shalt not long 

Rule in the clouds ; like an autumnal star 

Or lightning thou shalt fall from Heaven, trod down 

Under his feet ; for proof, ere this thou feel'st 

Thy wound, yet not thy last and deadliest wound. 

By this repulse received, and hold'st in Hell 

No triumph ; in all her gates Abaddon rues 

Thy bold attempt ; hereafter learn with awe 

To dread the Son of God : he all unarmed 

Shall cLase thee with the terror of his voice 

From thy demoniac holds, possession foul, 

Thee and thy legions ; yelling they shall fly. 

And beg to hide them in a herd of swine, 

Lest he command them down into the deep 

Boimd, and to torment sent before their time. 

Hail ! Son of the Most High, heir of both worlds, 

Queller of Satan, on thy glorious work 

Now enter, and begin to save mankind." 

Thus they the Son of God, our Saviour meek. 
Sung victor, and from hearenly feast refreshed 
Brought on his way with joy ; he unobserved 
Home to his mothei-'s j)rivate house returned. 



^amsmi Sjnntstes. 



A DRAMATIC POEM. 



TpayfSla fiifi-^fft^ Ttpd^eux; ffTTooSata^. — x. t. X. 

Aristot. Poet., cap. vl. 

Trftg«edia Mt imitatio actionis serise, &c., per misericordiam et metnm 
perficiens talium affectuum instrationem. 



OF THAT SORT OF DRAMATIC POEM WHICH IS 
CALLED TRAGEDY. 

Teaqkdt, as it was anciently composed, hath been ever 
held the gravest, moralest, and most profitable of all other 
poems ; therefore said by Aristotle to be of power, by rais- 
ing pity and fear, or terror, to pnrge the mind of those and 
auch like passions, that is, to temper and reduce them to 
just measure with a kind of delight, stirred up by reading 
or seeing those passions well imitated. Nor is nature 
wanting in her own effects to make good his assertion ; 
for 80 in physic, thincrs of melancholic hue and quality are 
used against melancholy, sour against sour ; salt to remove 
salt humours. Hence, philosophers and other gravest 
writers, as Cicero, Plutarch, and others, frequently cite 
out of tragic poets, both to adorn and illustrate their dis- 
course. The Apostle Paul himself thought it not un- 
worthy to insert a verse of Euripides into the text of Holy 
Scripture, 1 Cor. xv. 33 ; and Paraous, commenting on the 

^348) 



SAMSON AG0NISTE8. 349 

Kevelation, divides the whole book as a tragedy, into acta 
distinguished each by a chorus of heavenly harpings and 
Bong between. Heretofore, men in highest dignity have 
laboured not a little to be thought able to compose a 
tragedy. Of that honour Dionysiiis the elder was no less 
ambitious, than before of his attaining to the tyranny. 
Augustus Caesar also begun his Ajax, but unable to please 
his own judgment with what he had begun, left it un- 
finished. Seneca, the philosopher, is by some thought the 
author of those tragedies (at least the best of them) that 
go under that name. Gregory Nazianzen, a father of the 
church, thought it not unbeseeming the sanctity of his 
person to write a tragedy, which is entitled " Christ 
Suffering." This is mentioned to vindicate tragedy 
from the small esteem, or rather infamy, which, in the 
account of many, it undergoes at this day with other 
common interludes ; happening through the poets' error 
of intermixing comic stuff with tragic sadness and gravity ; 
or introducing trivial and vulgar persons, which by all 
judicious hath been coxmted absurd ; and brought in with- 
out discretion, corruptly to gratify the people. And 
though ancient tragedy use no prologue, yet using some- 
times, in case of self-defence or explanation, that which 
Martial calls an epistle; in behalf of this tragedy coming 
forth after the ancient manner, much different from what 
among us passes for best, thus much befoi'ehand may be 
epistled ; that chorus is here introduced after the Greek 
manner, not ancient only but modern, and still in use 
among the Italians. In the modelling, therefore, of this 
poem, with good reason, the ancients and Italians are rather 
followed, as of much more authority and fame. The 
measure of verso used in the chorus is of all sorts, called 
by the Greeks Monostrophic, or rather Apolelymenon, 
without regard had to Strophe, Antistrophe, or Epode, 
which were a kind of stanzas framed only for the music 
then used with the chorus that sung; not essential to the 
poem, and therefore not material ; or being divided into 
stanzas or pauses, they may be called Alloeostropha. 
Division into act and scene referring chiefly to the stage 
(to which this work never was intended), is here omitted. 



850 SAMSON AGONISTHS. 

It sufBces if the whole drama be foiind not produced 
beyond the fifth act. Of the style and uniformity, and 
that commonly called the plot, whether intricate or ex- 
plicit, which is nothing, indeed, but such ceconomy or 
disposition of the fable as may stand best with verisi- 
militude and decorum ; they only will best judge who are 
not unacquainted with JEschylus, Sophocles, and Eurip- 
ides, the three tragic poets unequalled yet by any, and the 
best rule to all who endeavour to write tragedy. The 
circumscription of time, wherein the whole drama begins 
and ends, is, according to ancient rule and best example, 
within the space of twenty-four hours. 



the persons. 

Samson. 

Manoah, the Father of Samson, 

Dalila, his Wife. 

Harapha of Gath. 

Public Officer. 

Messenger. 

Chorus of Danites. 

The Scene "before the Prison in Gctza. 



THE ABGTJMENT. 

Samson made captive, blind, and now in the prison at Gaza, there to 
labour as in a conimon workhouse, on a festival day, in the genei^ 
cesBation from labour, comes forth into the open air to a place nijjh, 
Bomewhat retired, there to sit awhile and bemoan his condition; where 
he happens at lencth to be'visited by certain friends and eqnals of hia 
tribe, which make the Chorus, who seek to comfort him what they can ; 
then by his old father, Manoah, who endeavours the like, and withal 
tells him his purpose to procure his liberty by ransom; lastly, that this 
feast was proclaimed by the Pliilistines as a day of thanksgiving for 
their deliverance from the hands of Samson, which yet more troubles 
him. Manoah then departs to prosecute his endeavour with the Philis- 



SAMSON AG0NISTE8. 351 

Uan lords for Samson's redemption ; who in the mean while is visited by 
other persons, and lastly by a public officer, to require his coming to the 
feast before tlie lords and people, to play or show his strength in tlieir 
presence : he at first refuses, dismissing the public offli'er with absolute 
denial to come; at length, persuaded inwardly that this was from God, 
he yields to go along with him, who came now the second time with 

freat threateniugs to fetch him. The Chorus yet remaining on the plnce, 
lanoah returns, full of joj-ful hope, to procure ere long his son's deliver- 
ance; in the midst of which discourse an Hebrew comes in haste, con- 
fusedly at first, and afterward more distinctly, relating the cataptro})lie, 
what Samson had done to the Philistines, and by accident to himself ; 
wherewith the tragedy ends. 

SAMSOlsr. 
A LITTLE onward lend thy guiding hand 
To these dark steps, a little further on ; 
For yonder bank hath choice of sun or shade : 
Tliere I am wont to sit when any chance 
Relieves me from my task of servile toil, 
Daily in the common prison else enjoined me, 
Whore I a ]>risoner chained, scarce freely draw 
The air imprisoned also, close and daniji, 
Unwholesome draught : but here I feel amends, 
The breath of Heaven fresh blowing, pure and sweet, 
With day-spring born ; here leave me to respire. 
This day a solemn feast the people hold 
To Dagon their sea idol, and forbid 
Laborious works; unwillingly this rest 
Their superstition yields me ; hence with leave 
Retiring from the popular noise, I seek 
This unfrequented place to find some ease, 
Ease to the body some, none to the mind 
From restless thoughts, that like a deadly swarm 
Of hornets armed, no sooner found alone, 
But rush upon me thronging, and present 
Times past, what once I was, and what am now. 
Oh, wherefore was my birth from Heaven foretold 
Twice by an angel, who at last in sight 
Of both my parents all in flames ascended 
From off the altar, where an offering burned. 
As in a fiery cohimn charioting 
His god-like presence, and from some great act 
Or benefit revealed to Abraham's race ? 



352 SAMSON AGOIflSTES. 

Why was my breeding ordered and prescribed 

As of a person separate to God, 

Designed for great exploits ; if I must die 

Betrayed, captived, and both my eyes put out, 

Made of my enemies the scorn and gaze ; 

To grind in brazen fetters under task 

With this Heaven-gifted strength ? O glorious strength 

Put to the labour of a beast, debased 

Lower than bondslave ! Promise was that I 

Should Israel fi'om Pliilistian yoke deliver ; 

Ask for this great deliverer now, and find him 

Eyeless in Gaza, at the mill with slaves, 

Himself in bonds under Philistian yoke : 

Yet stay, let me not rashly call in doubt 

Divine prediction ; what if all foretold 

Had been fulfilled but through mine own default, 

Whom have I to complain of but myself? 

Who this high gift of strength committed to me, 

In what part lodged, how easily bereft me, 

Under the seal of silence could not keep, 

But weakly to a woman must reveal it, 

O'ercome with importunity and tears. 

impotence of mind, in body strong ! 

But what is strength without a double share 

Of wisdom ? vast, unwieldly, burdensome. 

Proudly secure, yet liable to fall 

By weakest subtleties, not made to rule, 

But to subserve M'here wisdom bears command I 

God, when he gave me strength, to show withal 

How slight the gift was, hung it in my hair. 

But peace ! I must not quarrel Math the will 

Of highest disjiensation, which herein 

1 'aply had ends above my reach to know : 
Suffices that to me strength is my bane, 
And proves the source of all my miseries ; 
So many and so huge, that each apart 
Would ask a life to wail ; but chief of all, 
O loss of sight, of thee I most complain ! 
Blind among enemies, O worse 4han chains, 
Dungeon or beggary, or decrepit age I 



SAMSON AGONTSTBg. 358 

Light, the prime ^vork of Gorl, to me is extinct, 

And all her various objects of delight 

Annulled, which might in part my grief have eased ; 

Inferior to the vilest now become 

Of man or worm ; the vilest here excel me ; 

They creep, yet see ; I, dark in light, exposed 

T() daily fraud, contempt, abuse, and wrong, 

Within doors, or without, still as a fool. 

In power of others, never in my own ; 

Scarce half I seem to live, dead more than half. 

Oh, dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, 

IrrecoA'^erably dark, total eclipse. 

Without all hope of day ! 

first created beam, and thou great Word, 

** Let there be light ! " and light was over all ; 

Why am I thus bereaved thy prime decree ? 

The sun to me is dark 

And silent as the moon. 

When she deserts the night. 

Hid in her vacant interlunar cave. 

Since light so necessary is to life, 

And almost life itself, if it be true 

Tliat light is in the soul, 

She all in every part : why was the sight 

To such a tender ball as the eye confined. 

So obvious and so easy to be quenched ? 

And not as feeling through all parts diffused. 

That she might look at will through every pore f 

Then had I not been thus exiled from light, 

As in the land of darkness, yet in light, 

To live a life half dead, a living death. 

And buried ; but, oh, yet more miserable ! 

Myself, my sepulchre, a moving grave. 

Buried, yet not exempt 

By privilege of death and burial 

From worst of other evils, pains and wrongs, 

But made hereby obnoxious more 

To all the miseries of life, 

r.ife in captivity 

Among inhuman foes. 



854 SAMSON AGOIflSTES. 

But who are these ? for with joint pace I hear 
The tread of many feet steering this way ; 
Perhaps my enemies, who come to stare 
At my affliction, and perhaps to insult, 
Their daily practice to afflict me more. 

CHORUS. 

This, this is he ; softly awhile, 
Let us not break in upon him : 
Oh, change beyond repoi-t, thought, or belief I 
See how he lies at random, carelessly diffused, 
With languished head unpropped. 
As one past hope, abandoned, 
And by himself given over ; 
In slavish habit, ill-fitted weeds 
O'er-worn and soiled ; 

Or do my eyes misrepresent ? Can this be he, 
That heroic, that renowned. 
Irresistible Samson ? whom unarmed 
No strength of man, or fiercest wild beast could withstand |! 
Who tore the lion, as the lion tears the kid ; 
Ran on embattled armies clad in iron. 
And wea])onless himself ; 
Made arms ridiculous, useless the forgery 
Of brazen shield and spear, the hammered cuirass, 
Chalybean tempered steel, and frock of mail, 
Adamantean proof; 
But safest he who stood aloof, 
When insupportably his foot advanced. 
In scorn of their proud arms and warlike tools, 
Spurned them to death by troops. The bold Ascalonite 
Fled from his lion ramp, old warriors turned 
Their plated backs under his heel , 
Or grovelling soiled their crested helmets in the dust. 
Then with what trivial weapon came to hand, 
The jaw of a dead ass, his sword of bone, 
A thousand foreskins fell, the flower of Palestine, 
In Ramath-lechi famous to this day. 
Then by main force pulled up, an«i on his shoulders bore 
The gates of Azza, post, and massy bar, 
Up to the hill by Hebron, seat of giants old, 



SAMSON AGONISTKS. 356 

No journey of a sabbath-day, and loaded so ; 

Like whom the Gentiles feign to bear up Heaven. 

Which shall I first bewail, 

Thy bondage or lost sight, 

Prison within prison, 

Inseparably dark ? 

Tliou art become (oh, worst imprisonment !) 

The dungeon of thyself ; thy soul 

(Which men enjoying sight oft without cause complain) 

Imprisoned now indeed, 

In real darkness of the body dwells, 

Shut up from outward light 

To incorporate with gloomy night ; 

For inward light, alas ! 

Puts forth no visual beam. 

O mirror of our fickle state, 

Since man on earth unparalleled I 

The rarer thy example stands. 

By how much from the top of wondrous glory. 

Strongest of mortal men, 

To lowest pitch of abject fortune thou art fallen. 

For him I reckon not in high estate 

Whom long descent of birth 

Or the sphere of fortune raises ; 

But thee whose strength, while virtue was her mate, 

Might have subdued the earth, 

Universally crowned with highest praises. 

SAMSON. 

I hear the sound of words, their sense the air 
Dissolves unjointed ere it reach my ear, 

CHORUS. 

He speaks, let us draw nigh. Matchless in might, 
The glory Inte of Israel, now the grief ; 
We come, thy friends and neighbours not unknown, 
From Eshtaol and Zora's fruitful vale 
To visit or bewail thee ; or, if better, 
Counsel or consolation we may bring. 
Salve to thy sores ; apt words have power to swage 
The tumours of a troubled mind, 
And are as balm to festered wounds. 



856 SAMSON AG0NI8TES. 

SAMSON. 

Your coming, friends, revives me, for I learn 
Now of my own experience, not by talk, 
How counterfeit a coin they are who friends 
Bear in their superscription (of the most 
I would be understood) : in prosperous days 
They swarm, but in adverse withdraw their head, 
Not to be found, though sought. Ye see, O friends, 
How many evils have enclosed me round ; 
Yet that which was the worst now least afflicts me, 
Blindness, for had I sight, confused with shame, 
How could I once look up, or heave the head, 
Who like a foolish pilot have shipwrecked 
My vessel trusted to me from above. 
Gloriously rigged ; and for a word, a tear, 
Fool ! have divulged the secret gift of God 
To a deceitful woman ? Tell me, friends. 
Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool 
In every street ? Do they not say. How well 
Are come upon him his deserts ? Yet why ? 
Immeasurable strength they miglit behold 
In me, of wisdom nothing more than mean ; 
This with the other shouhl, at least, have paired. 
These two proportioned ill drove me transverse. 

CHORUS. 

Tax not divine disposal ; wisest men 
Have erred, and by bad women been deceived ; 
And shall again, pretend they ne'er so wise. 
Deject not then so overmuch thyself. 
Who hast of sorrow thy full load besides ; 
Yet truth to say, I oft have heard men wonder 
Why thou shouldst wed Philistian women rather 
Than of thine own tribe fairer, or as fair, 
At least of thy own nation, and as noble. 

SAMSON. 

The first I saw at Timna, and she pleased 
Me, not my parents, that I sought to wed 
The daughter of an infidel: they knew not 
That what I motioned was of God ; I knew 
From intimate impulse, and therefore urged 



SAMSON AG0N7STE8. 357 

The marriage on ; that by occasion hence 

I might begin Israel's deliverance, 

The work to which I was divinely called. 

She proving false, the next I took to wife 

(Oh that I never had ! fond wish too late) 

Was in the vale of Sorec, Dalila, 

Tliat specious monster, my accomplished snare. 

I thought it lawful from my former act, 

And the same end ; still watching to oppress 

Israel's oppressors : of what now I suffer 

She M^as not the prime cause, but I myself, 

Who vanquished with a peal of words (Oh weakness 1) 

Gave up my fort of silence to a woman. 

CHORUS. 

In seeking just occasion to provoke 
The Philistine, thy country's enemy. 
Thou never wast remiss, I bear thee witness : 
Yet Israel still serves with all his sons. 

SAMSON. 

That fault I take not on me, but transfer 
On Israel's governors, and heads of tribes, 
Who seeing those great acts, which God had done 
Singly by me against their conquerors, 
Acknowledged not, or not at all considered 
Deliverance offered : I, on the other side. 
Used no ambition to commend my deeds, 
The deeds themselves, though mute, spoke loud the doer J 
But they persisted deaf, and would nut seem 
To count them things worth notice, till at length 
Their lords, the Philistines, with gathered powers, 
Entered Judea seeking me, who then 
Safe to the rock of Etham was retired. 
Not flying, but forecasting in what place 
To set upon them, what advantaged best : 
Meanwhile the men of Judah, to prevent 
The harass of their land, beset me round ; 
I willingly on some conditions came 
Into their hands, and they as gladly yield me 
To the uncircnmcised a welcome prey. 
Bound with two cords ; but cords to me were threads 
Touched with the flame : on their whole host I flew 



858 SAMSON AG0NISTB8. 

Unarmed, and with a trivial weapon felled 
Their choicest youth ; they only lived who fled. 
Had Judah that day joined, or one whole tribe, 
They had by this possessed the towers of Gath, 
And lorded over them whom now they serve. 
But what more oft in nations grown corrupt, 
And by tlieir vices brought to servitude, 
Than to love bondage more than liberty, 
Bondage with ease than strenuous liberty ; 
And to despise, or envy, or suspect 
Whom God hath of his special favour raised 
As their deliverer ; if he aught begin, 
How frequent to desert him, and at last 
To heap ingratitude on worthiest deeds ? 

CHORUS. 

Thy words to my remembrance bring 
How Su(!coth and the fort of Penuel 
Their great deliverer contemned, 
The matchless Gideon in pursuit 
Of Madian and her vanquished kings : 
And how iiigrateful Ephraim 
Had dealt with Jephtha, who by argument. 
Not worse than by his shield and spear, 
Defended Israel from the Ammonite, 
Had not his prowess quelled their pride 
In that sore battle, when so many died 
Without rejirieve, adjudged to death 
For want of well pronouncing Shibboleth. 

SAMSON. 

Of such examples add me to the roll, 
Me easily indeed mine may neglect, 
But God's proposed deliverance not so. 

CHORUS. 

Just are the ways of God, 
And justifiable to men ; 
Unless there be who think not God at all : 
[f any be, they walk obscure ; 
For of such doctrine never was there school. 
But the heart of the fool. 
And no man therein doctor but himself. 



SAMSON AG0N1STE8. 359 

Yet more there be who doubt his ways not just, 
Ap to his own edicts found contradicting, 
Tlien give the reins to wandering thought, 
Rfgardless of his glory's diminution ; 
Till by their own perplexities involved 
Tliey revel more, still less resolved, 
But never find self-satisfying solution. 

As if they would confine the Interminable, 
And tie him to his own prescript, 
Who made our laws to bind us, not himself, 
And hath full right to exem2)t 
Whom so it pleases him by choice 
From national obstriction, without taint 
Of sin, or legal debt ; 
For with liis own laws he can best dispense. 

He would not else who never wanted means, 
Nor in respect of the ^nemy just cause 
To set his people free, 
Have prompted this heroic Nazarite, 
Against his vow of strictest purity, 
To seek in marriage that fallacious bride, 
Unclean, unchaste. 

Down reason then, at least vain reasonings down, 
Though reason here aver 
That moral verdict quits her of unclean : 
Unchaste was subsequent — her stain, not his. 

But see, here comes thy reverend sire 
With careful step, locks white as down, 
Old Manoah : advise 
Forthwith how thou oughtst to receive him. 

SAMSON. 

Ay me ! another inward grief awaked 
With mention of that name renews the assault. 

MANOAH. 

Brethren and men of Dan, for such ye seem, 
Though in this uncouth place ; if old respect, 
As I suppose, towards your once gloried friend, 
My son now captive, hither hath informed 
Your younger feet ; while mine, cast back with age. 
Came lagging after ; say if he be here. 



860 SAMSON AG0NISTB8. 

CHORUS. 

As signal uow in low dejected state, 
As erst in highest, behold him where he lies. 

MANOAH. 

Oh, miserable change ! is this the man, 
That invincible Samson, far renowned, 
The dread of Israel's foes, who with a strength 
Equivalent to angels walked their streets. 
None offering light ; who single combatant 
Duelled their armies ranked in proud array, 
Himself an army, now unequal match 
To save hiuiself against a coward armed 
At one spear's length. Oh, ever-failing trust 
In mortal strength ! and oh, what not in man 
Deceivable and vain ? Nay, what thing good 
Prayed for, but often proves our woe, our bane ? 
I prayed for children, and thought barrenness 
In wedlock a reproach ; I gained a son. 
And such a son as all men hailed me happy ; 
Who would be now a father in my stead ? 
Oh, wherefore did God grant me my request, 
And, as a blessing, with such pomp adorned ? 
Why are his gifts desirable, to tempt 
Our earnest prayers, then given with solemn hand 
As graces, draw a scorpion's tail behind ? 
For this did the angel twice descend ? for this 
Ordained thy nurture holy, as of a plant 
Select, and sacred, glorious for a while, 
The miracle of men ; then in an hour 
Ensnared assulted, overcome, led bound, 
Tliy foes derision, captive, poor, and blind, 
Into a dungeon thrust, to work with slaves ? 
Alas ! methinks whom God hath chosen once 
To worthiest deeds, if he through frailty err, 
He should not so o'erwhelm, and as a thrall 
Subject him to so foul indignities, 
Be it but for honour's sake of former deeds 

SAMSON. 

Appoint not heavenly disposition, father ; 
Nothijig of all these evils hath befallen me 



SAMSON AOONISTES. 861 

But justly ; I myself have brought them on, 

Sole author I, sole cause : if aught seem vile, 

As vile hath been my foll}^, who have profaned 

The mystery of God given me under pledge 

Of vow, and have betrayed it to a woman, 

A Canaanite, my faithless enemy. 

This well I knew, nor was at all siu-prised, 

But warned by oft experience : did not she 

Of TLmna first betraj' me, and reveal 

The secret wrested from me in her height 

Of nuptial love i^rofessed, carr^ying it straight 

To them who had corrupted her, m}^ spies. 

And rivals ? In this other was there found 

More faith, who also in her prime of love, 

Spousal embraces, vitiated with gold. 

Though offered only, by the scent conceived 

Her spurious first-born, treason against me? 

Thrice she assayed with flattering prayers and sighs, 

And amorous reproaches, to win from me 

My capital secret, in what part my strength 

Lay stored, in what part summed, that she might know ; 

Thrice I deluded her, and turned to sport 

Her importunit}^, each time perceiving 

How openly, and with what impudence 

She purposed to betray me, and (which was worse 

Than undisscmbled hate) with what contempt 

She nought to make me traitor to myself ; 

Yet the fourth time, when mustering all her wiles, 

With blandished parleys, feminine assaults, 

Tongue-batteries, she surceased not day nor night 

To 8lorm me over-watched, and wearied out, 

At times when men seek most repose and rest, 

I yielded, and unlocked her all my heart. 

Who •with a grain of manhood well resolved 

Mis:ht easily have shook off all her snares : 

But foul effeminacy held me yoked 

Her bond-slave ; oh, indignity ! oh, blot 

To honour and religion ! servile mind 

Rewarded well with servile punishment I 



362 SAMSON AGONISTBS. 

The base degree to which I now am fallen, 
Tliese rags, this grinding, is not yet so base 
As was my former servitude, ignoble, 
Unmanly, ignominious, infamous, 
True slavery, and that blindness worse than this, 
That saw not how degenerately I served. 

MAXOAH. 

I cannot praise thy marriage choices, son ; 
Rather approved them not ; but thou didst plead 
Divine impulsion prompting how thou might'st 
Find some occasion to infest our foes. 
I state not that ; this I am sure, our foes 
Found soon occasion thereby to make thee 
Their captive, and their triumph ; thou the sooner 
Temptation found'st, or over-potent charms 
To violate the sacred trust of silence 
Deposited withiu thee ; which, to have kept 
Tacit, was in thy power : true, and thou bear'st 
Enough, and more, the burden of that fault ; 
Bitterly hast thou paid, and still art paying 
That rigid score. A worse thing yet remains; 
This day the Philistines a popular feast 
Here celebrate in Gaza ; and proclaim 
Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud 
To Dagon, as their god who hath delivered 
Thee, Samson, bound and blind into their hands, 
Them out of thine, who slew'st them many a slain. 
So Dagon shall be magnified, and God, 
Besides whom is no God, compared with idols, 
Disglorified, blasphemed, and had in scorn 
By the idolatrous rout amidst their wine ; 
Which to have come to pass by means of thee, 
Samson, of all thy sufferings think the heaviest, 
Of all reproach the most with shame that ever 
Could have befallen thee and thy father's house. 

SAMSOX. 

Father, I do acknowledge and confess 
That I this honour, I this pomp have brought 
To Dagon, and advanced his praises high 
Among the heathen round ; to God have brought 



SAMSON AGONISTES. 8BJ 

Dishonour, obloquy, and oped the mouths 
Of idolists and atlieists ; liave brouglit scandal 
To Israel, diffidence of God, and doubt 
In feeble hearts, propense enough l)efore 
To waver, or fall off and join with idols; 
Which is my chief affliction, shame, and sorrcw, 
The anguish of my soul, that suffers not 
Mine eye to harbour sleep, or thoughts to rest. 
This only hope relieves me, that the strife 
With me hath end ; all the contest is now 
'Twixt God and Dagon ; Dagon hath presumed, 
Me overthrown, to enter lists with God, 
ITis deity com])aring and j)referring 
Before the God of Abraham. He, be sure, 
Will not connive, or linger, thus provoked, 
But will arise and his great name assert: 
Dagon must stoop, and shall ere long receive 
Such a discomfit, as shall quite despoil him 
Of all these boasted trophies won on me. 
And with confusion blank his worshippers. 

MANOAH. 

With cause this hope relieves thee, and these words 
I as a prophecy receive ; for God, 
Nothing more certain, will not long defer 
I'o vindicate the glory of his name 
Against all competition, nor will long 
Endure it doubtful whether God be Lord, 
Or Dagon. But for thee what shall be done? 
Thou must not in the mean while here forgot 
Lie in this miserable loathsome plight, 
Neglected. I already have made way 
To some Philistian lords, with whom to treat 
About thy ransom : well they may by this 
Have satisfied their utmost of revenge 
By pains and slaveries, worse than death, inflicted 
On thee, who now no more canst do them harm. 

SAMSON. 

Spare that proposal, father, spare the trouble 
Of that solicitation ; let me here, 
As I deserve, pay on my punishment ; 



364 sAsrsox agonistes. 

And expiate, if possible, my crime, 
Shameful garrulity. To have revealed 
Secrets of men, the secrets of a friend. 
How heinous had the fact been, how deserving 
Contempt and scorn of all, to be excluded 
All friendship, and avoided as a blab, 
The mark of fool set on his front ! But I 
God's counsel have not kept, his holy secret 
Presumptuously have published, impiously, 
Weakly at least, and shamefully ; a sin 
That Gentiles in their ])arables condemn 
To their abyss and horrid pains confined. 

MAXOAH. 

Be penitent and for thy fault contrite, 
But act not in thy own affliction, son ; 
Repent the sin, but if the punishment 
Thou canst avoid, self-preservation bids ; 
Or the execution leave to high disposal, 
And let another hand, not thine, exact 
Thy penal forfeit from thyself ; perhaps 
God will relent, and quit thee all his debt; 
Who ever more approves and more accepts 
(Best pleased with humble and filial submission) 
Him who imploring mercy sues for life. 
Than who self-rigorous chooses death as due; 
Which argues over-just, and self-dis]>leased 
For self-offence, more than for God offended. 
Reject not then what offered means ; who knows 
But God hath set before us, to return thee 
Home to thy country and his sacred house, 
Where thou mayst bring thy offerings, to avert 
His further ire, with jirayers and vows renewed ? 

SAMSOX. 

His pardon I implore ; but as for life, 
To what end should I seek it ? when in strength 
All mortals I excelled, and great in hopes 
With youthful courage and magnanimous thoughts 
Of birth from Heaven foretold and high exploits, 
Full of divine instinct, after some proof 
Of acts indeed heroic, far beyond 



8AMS0X AGOXISTKS. 365 

The sons of Anak, famous now and blazed, 
Fearless of danger, like a petty god 
I walked about admired of all, and dreaded 
On hostile ground, none daring my affront. 
Then swollen with pride into the snare I fell 
Of fair fallacious looks, venereal trains. 
Softened with pleasure and voluptuous life ; 
At length to lay ray head and Iiallowed pledge 
Of all my strength in the lascivious lap 
Of a deceitful concubine, who shore me 
Like a tame wether, all my precious fleece, 
Then turned me out ridiculous, despoiled, 
Shaven, and disarmed among mine enemies. 

CHORUS. 

Desire of wine and all delicious di-inks, 
Which many a famous warrior overturns, 
Thou couldst repress, nor did the dancing ruby 
Sparkling, out-poured, the flavour, or the smell, 
Or taste that cheers the heart of gods and men, 
Allure thee from the cool crystalline stream. 

SAMSOX. 

Wherever fountain or fresh current flowed 
Against the eastern ray, translucent, pui'e, 
With touch ethereal of Heaven's fiery rod, 
I drank, from the clear milky juice allaying 
Thirst, and refreshed : nor envied them the grape 
Whose heads that turbulent liquor fills with fumes. 

CHORUS. 

Oh ! madness, to think use of strongest wines 
And strongest drinks our chief support of health, 
When God with these forbidden made choice to rear 
His mighty champion, strong above compare, 
Whose drink was only from the liquid brook. 

SAMSON. 

But what availed this temperance, not complete 
Against another object more enticing? 
What boots it at one gate to make defence, 
And at another to let in the foe. 
Effeminately vanquished ? by which means, 
Now blind, disheartened, shamed, dishonoured, quelled. 



866 SAMSON AGONISTES. 

To what can I be useful, wherein serve 

My nation, and the work from Heaven imposed. 

But to sit idle on the household hearth, 

A burdenous drone ; to visitants a gaze, 

Or pitied object, these redundant locks 

Robustious to no purpose clustering down, 

Vain monument of strength ; till length of years 

And sedentary numbness craze my limbs 

To a contemptible old age obscure? 

Here lather let me drudge and earn my bread, 

Till vermin or the draff of servile food 

Consume me, and oft-invocated death 

Hasten the welcome end of all my pains. 

MANOAH. 

Wilt thou then serve tlie Philistines with that gift 
T^hich was exi)ressly given thee to annoy them ? 
Better at home lie bed-rid, not only idle, 
Inglorious, unemj)loyed, with age outworn. 
But God, wlio caused a fountain at thy prayer 
From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay 
After the brunt of battle, can as easy 
Cause light again within thy eyes to spring, 
Wherewith to serve him better than thou hast ; 
And I persuade me so ; why else this strength 
Miraculous yet remaining in those locks? 
His might continues in thee not for nought, 
Ner shall his wondrous gifts be frustrate thus. 

SAMSON. 

All otherwise to me ray thoughts portend. 
That these dark orbs no more shall treat with light, 
Nor the otlier light of life continue long, 
But yield to double darkness nigh at hand : 
So much I feel my genial spirits droop, 
My hopes all flat, nature within me seems 
In all her functions weary of herself. 
My race of glory run, and race of shame, 
And I shall shortly be with them that rest. 

MANOAH. 

Believe not these suggestions, which proceed 
From anguish of the mind and humoiirs black, 



SAMSON AG0N1STE8. 367 

That mingle with thy fancy. I, however, 
Must not omit a father's timely care 
To prosecute the means of thy deliverance 
By ransom, or how else : meanwhile be calm, 
And healing words from these thy friends admit. 

SAMSON. ^Qi, 

Oh, that torment shoiild not be confined ^d «. \ 

To the body's wounds and sores, ' '^ -' 

With maladies innumerable 
In heart, head, breast, and reins ; 
But must secret passage find 
To the inmost mind, 
There exercise all his fierce accidents, 
And on her purest spirits prey, 
As on entrails, joints and limbs, 
With answerable pains, but more intense, 
Though void of corporal sense ! 

My griefs not only pain me 
As a lingering disease. 
But, finding no redress, ferment and rage, 
Nor less than wounds immedicable 
Rankle, and fester, and gangrene. 
To black mortification. 

Thoughts my tormentors armed with deadly atingn 
Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts, 
Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise 
Dire inflammation, which no cooling herb 
Or medicinal liquor can assuage. 
Nor breath of vernal air from snowy Alp. 
Sleep hath forsook and given me o'er 
To death's benumbing opium as my only cure : 
These faintir.gs, swoonings of despair, 
And sense of Heaven's desertion. 

I was his nurseling once, and choice delight ; 
His destined from the womb, 
Promised by heavenly message twice descending. 
Under his special eye 
Abstemious I grew up and thrived amain ; 
He led me on to mightiest deeds 
Above the nerve of mortal arm 



868 BAMSOX AGONISTBS. 

Agains^ the uncircuracised, our enemies ; 
But no w hath cast me off as never known, 
And tc those cruel enemies, 
"Whom I by his appointment had provoked. 
Left me all helpless with the irreparable loss 
Of sijj'it, reserved alive to be repeated 
Thf-l^ubject of their cruelty or scorn. 
Nor am I in the list of them that hope ; 
Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless ; 
This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard, 
No long petition, speedy death. 
The close of all my miseries, and the balm. 

CHORUS. 

Many are the sayings of the wise 
In ancient and in modern books enrolled, 
Extolling patience as the truest fortitude ; 
And to the bearing well of all calamities, 
All chances incident to man's frail life, 
Consolatories writ 

"With studied argument, and much persuasion sought 
Lenient of grief and anxious thought : 
But with the afflicted in his pangs their sound 
Little prevails, or rather seems a tune 
Harsh, and of dissonant mood from his complaint; 
Unless he feel within 
Some source of consolation from above, 
Secret refreshings, that repair his strength, 
And fainting spirits uphold. 

God of our fathers ! what is man. 
That thou towards him with hand so various, 
Or might I say contrarious, 

Temperest thy providence through his short course, 
Not evenly, as thou rul'st 

The angelic orders and inferior creatures mute, 
Irrational and brute. 

Nor do I name of men the common rout, 
That wandering loose about 
Grow up and perish, as the summer fly, 
Heads without name no more remembered, 
But such as thou hast solemnly elected, 



SAMSON AG0NISTE8. 369 

With gifts and graces eminently adorned, 

To some great work, thy glory, 

And people's safety, which in part they effect : 

Yet toward these thus dignified, thou oft, 

Amidst their height of noon, 

Changest thy countenance, and thy hand with no regard 

Of highest favours past 

From thee on them, or them to thee of service. 

Nor only dost degrade them, or remit 
To life obscured, which wei'e a fair dismission, 
But throw'st them lower than thou didst exalt them higb^ 
Unseemly falls in human eye. 
Too grievous for the trespass or omission ; 
Oft leav'st them to the hostile sword 
Of heathen and profane, their carcases 
To dogs and fowls a prey, or else captived ; 
Or to the unjust tribunals, under change of times, 
And condemnation of the ungrateful multitude. 
If these they 'scape, perhaps in poverty 
With sickness and disease thou bow'st them down, 
Painful diseases and deformed, 
In crude old age ; 

Though not disordinate, yet causeless suffering 
The punishment of dissolute days : in fine, 
Just or unjust alike seem miserable. 
For oft alike both come to evil end. 

So deal not with this once thy glorious champion, 
The image of thy strength, and mighty minister. 
What do I beg? How hast thou dealt already? 
Behold him in this state calamitous, and turn 
His labours, for thou canst, to peaceful end. 

But who is this ? what thing of sea or land ? 
Female of sex it seems. 
That so bedecked, ornate, and gay, 
Comes this way sailing 
Like a stately ship 
Of Tarsus, bound for the isles 
Of Javan or Gadire, 

With all her bravery on, and tackle trim, 
Sails filled, and streamers waving, 

24 



370 SAMSON AGONTSTKS. 

Courted by all the winds that hold them play, 
An amber scent of odorous perfume 
Her harbinger, a damsel train behind ; 
Some rich Philistian matron she may seem, 
And now, at nearer view, no other certain 
Than Dalila thy wife. 

SAMSON. 

My wife, my traitress ! let her not come near me. 

CHORUS. 

Yet on she moves, now stands and eyes thee fixed, 
About to have spoke, but now, with head declined 
Like a fair flower surcharged with dew, she weeps. 
And words addressed seem into tears dissolved, 
Wetting the borders of her silken veil : 
But now again she makes address to speak. 

DALILA. 

"With doubtful feet and wavering resolution 
I came, still dreading thy displeasure, Samson, 
Which to have merited, without excuse, ^ 
I cannot but acknowledge ; yet if tears 
May expiate (though the fact more evil drew 
In the perverse event than I foresaw), 
My penance hath not slackened, though my pardon 
No way assured. But conjugal affection. 
Prevailing over fear and timorous doubt. 
Hath led me on, desirous to behold 
Once more thy face, and know of thy estate, 
If aught in my ability may serve 
To lighten what thou suiferest, and appease 
Thy mind with what amends is in my power. 
Though late, yet in some part to recompense 
My rash but more unfortunate misdeed. 

SAMSON. 

Out, out, hyena ! these are thy wonted arts, 
And arts of every woman false like thee, 
To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray. 
Then as repentant to submit, beseech, 
And reconcilement move with feigned remorse; 
Confess, and promise wonders in her change. 
Not truly penitent, but chief to try 



SAM80K AG0NISTB3. 371 

Her husband, how far urged his patience bears, 

His virtue or weakness which way to assail : 

Then with more cautious and instructed skill 

Again transgresses, and again submits ; 

That wisest and best men full oft beguiled, 

With goodness principled not to reject 

The penitent, but ever to forgive, 

Are drawn to wear out miserable days, 

Intangled with a poisonous bosom snake, 

If not by quick destruction soon cut off 

As I by thee, to ages an example, 

DALILA. 

Yet hear me, Samson ; not that I endeavour 
To lessen or extenuate my offence ; 
But that on the other side, if it be weighed 
By itself, with aggravations not surcharged, 
Or else with just allowance counterpoised, 
I may, if possible, thy pardon find 
The easier towards me, or thy hatred less. 
First granting, as I do, it was a weakness 
In me, but incident to all our sex, 
Curiosity, inquisitive, importune 
Of secrets, then, with like infirmity 
To publish them, both common female faults : 
Was it not weakness also to make known 
For importunity, that is for nought, 
Wherein consisted all thy strength and safety ? 
To what I did thou show'dst me first the way. 
But I to enemies revealed, and should not : 
Nor shouldst thou have trusted that to woman's frailty ; 
Ere I to thee, thou to thyself wast cruel. 
Let weakness then with weakness come to parle, 
So near related, or the same of kind. 
Thine forgive mine ; that men may censure thine 
The gentler, if severely thou exact not 
More strength from me, than in thyself was found. 
And what if love, which thou interpret'st hate, 
The jealousy of love, powerful of sway 
In human hearts, nor less in mine towards thee, 
Caused what I did ? I saw thee mutable 



372 SAMSON AGONISTES. 

Of fancy ; feared lest one day thou wouldst leave me 

As her at Tirana, sought by all means therefore 

How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest: 

No better way I saw than by importuning 

To learn thy secrets, get into ray power 

Thy key of strength and safety : thou wilt say, 

Why then revealed ? I was assured by those 

Who tempted me, that nothing was designed 

Against thee but safe custody, and hold : 

That made for me ; I knew that liberty 

Would draw thee forth to perilous enterprises, 

While I at home sat full of cares and fears, 

Wailing thy absence in my widowed bed ; 

Here I should still enjoy thee day and night. 

Mine and love's prisoner, not the Philistines ; 

Whole to myself, unhazarded abroad, 

Fearless at home of partners in my love. 

These reasons in love's law have passed for good. 

Though fond and reasonless to some, perhaps ; 

And love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much woe, 

Yet always pity or pardon hath obtained. 

Be not unlike all others, not austere 

As thou art strong, intlexible as steel. 

If thou in strength all mortals dost exceed. 

In uncompassionate anger do not so. 

SAMSON. 

How cunningly the sorceress displays 
Her own transgressions, to upbraid me mine ! 
That raalice, not repentance, brought thee hither. 
By this appears : I gave, thou say'st, the example ; 
I led the way ; bitter reproach, but true ; 
I to myself was false ere thou to me ; 
Such pardon therefore as I give my folly. 
Take to thy wicked deed ; which when thou seest 
Impartial, self-severe, inexorable, 
Thou wilt renounce thy seeking, and much rathor 
Confess it feigned : weakness is thy excuse, 
And I believe it ; weakness to resist 
Philistian gold : if weakness raay excuse, 
What murderer, what traitor, parricide, 



SAMSON A60NI8TES. 878 

Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it? 

All wickeduess is weakness : that plea, therefore, 

With God or man will gain thee no remission. 

But love constrained thee ; call it furious rage 

To satisfy thy lust : love seeks to have love : 

My love how couldst thou hope, who took'st the way 

To raise in me inexpiable hate, 

Knowing, as needs I must, by thee betrayed ? 

In vain thou striv'st to cover shame with shame, 

Or b) evasions thy crime uncover'st more. 

DALILA. 

Since thou determin'st weakness for no plea 
In man or woman, though to thy own condemning, 
Hear what assaults I had, what snares besides, 
What sieges girt me round, ere I consented ; 
Which might have awed the best resolved of men. 
The constantest, to have yielded without blame. 
It was not gold, as to my charge thou lay'st, 
That wrought with me : thou know'st the magistratep 
And princes of my country came in person, 
Solicited, commanded, threatened, urged, 
Adjured by all the bonds of civil duty 
And of religion ; pressed how just it was, 
How honourable, how glorious to entrap 
A common enemy, who had destroyed 
Such numbers of our nation : and the priest 
Was not behind, but ever at my ear. 
Preaching how meritorious with the gods 
It would be to ensnare an irreligious 
Dishonourer of Dagon : what had I 
To oppose against such powerful arguments ? 
Only my love of thee held long debate, 
And combated in silence all these reasons 
With hard contest : at length that grounded maxim 
;:!^o rife and celebrated in the mouths 
Of wisest men, that to the public good 
Private respects must yield, with grave authority 
Took full possession of me and prevailed ; 
\rirtue, as I thoiight, truth, duty, so enjoining. 



374 SAMSON AGONISTBS. 

SAMSON. 

I thought where all thy circling wiles would eud, 
In feigned religion, smooth hypocrisy. 
But had thy love, still odiously pretended, 
Been, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught (hee 
Far other reasonings, brought forth other deeds. 
I, before all the daughters of my tribe. 
And of my nation, chose thee from among 
My enemies, loved thee, as too well thou knew'st, 
Too well, unbosomed all my secrets to thee, 
Not out of levity, but overpowered 
By thy request, who could deny thee nothing ; 
Yet now am judged an enemy. Why then 
Didst thou at first receive me for thy husband. 
Then, as since then, thy country's foe professed? 
Being once a wife, for me thou wast to leave 
Parents and country; nor was I their subject, 
Nor under their protection, but my own. 
Thou mine, not theirs : if aught against my life 
Thy country sought of thee, it sought unjustly. 
Against the law of nature, law of nations, 
No more thy country, but an impious crew 
Of men conspiring to uphold their state 
By worse than hostile deeds, violating the ends 
For which our country is a name so dear; 
Not therefore to be obeyed. But zeal moved thee ■ 
To please thy gods thou didst it : gods unable 
To acquit themselves, and prosecute their foes 
But by ungodly deeds, the contradiction 
Of their own deity, gods cannot be : 
Less therefore to be pleased, obeyed, or feared. 
These false pretexts and varnished colours failing, 
Bare in thy guilt how foul must thou appear 1 

DALILA. 

In argument with men a woman ever 
Goes by the worse, whatever be her cause. 

SAMSON. 

For want of words, no doubt, or lack of breath ; 
Witness when I was worried with thy peals. 



SAMSON AG0NI8TE8. 375 

DALILA. 

I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistaken 
In what I thought would have succeeded best. 
Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson ; 
Afford me place to show what recompense 
Towards thse I intend for what I have misdone, 
Misguided ; only what remains past cure 
Bear not too sensibly, nor still insist 
To afHict thyself in vain : though sight be lost, 
Life yet hath many solaces, enjoyed 
Where other senses want not their delights 
At home in leisure and domestic ease. 
Exempt from many a care and chance to which 
Eyesight exposes daily men abroad. 
I to the lords will intercede, not, doubting 
Their favourable ear, that I may fetch thee 
From forth this loathsome prison-house, to abide 
With me, where my redoubled love and care 
With nursing diligence, to me glad office, 
May ever tend about thee to old age 
With all things grateful cheered, and so supplied. 
That what by me thou hast lost thou least shalt misH. 

SAMSON. 

No, no, of my condition take no care ; 
It fits not ; thou and I long since are twain ; 
Nor think me so unwary or accursed, 
To bring my feet again into the snare 
Where once I have been caught ; I know thy trains 
Though dearly to my cost, tliy gins, and toils ; 
Thy fair enchanted cup and warblhig charms 
No more on me have power ; their force is nulled, 
So much of adder's wisdom I have learned 
To fence ray ear against thy sorceries. 
If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men 
Loved, honoured, feared me, thou alone couldst hate me 
Thy husband, slight me, sell me, and forego me, 
How couldst thou use me now, blind, and thereby 
Deceivable in most things as a child 
Helpless, thence easily contemned, and scorned, 
And last neglected ! How wouldst thou insult. 



376 8AMS0N AGONISTKS. 

Wheu I must live uxorious to thy will 

In perfect thraldom ; how again betray me, 

Bearing my words and doings to the lords 

To gloss upon, and, censuring, frown or smile? 

This jail 1 count the house of liberty 

To thine, whose doors my feet shall never enter. 

DALILA. 

Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand. 

SAMSON. 

Not for thy life, lest fierce remembraned wako 
My sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint. 
At distance I forgive thee, go with that ; 
Bewail thy falsehood, and the pious works 
It hath brought forth to make thee memorable 
Among illustrious women, faithful wives; 
Cherish thy hastened widowhood with the gold 
Of matrimonial treason : so farewell. 

DALILA. 

I see thou art implacable, more deaf 
To prayers than winds and seas ; yet winds to seaa 
Are reconciled at length, and sea to shore : 
Thy anger, unappeasable, still rages, 
Eternal tempest never to be calmed. 
Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing 
For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate ? 
Bid go with evil omen, and the brand 
Of infamy upon my name denounced ? 
To mix with thy concernments I desist 
Henceforth, nor too much disapprove my own. 
Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed. 
And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds ; 
On both his wings, one black, the other white, 
Bears greatest names in his wild airy flight. 
My name perhaps among the circumcised 
In Dan, in Judah, and tlie bordering tribes, 
To all posterity may stand defamed, 
With malediction mentioned, and the blot 
Of falsehood most unconjugal traduced. 
But in my country where I most desire 
(In Eoron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath), 



SAMSON AG0NISTE8. 377 

I shall be named among the famousest 

Of women, sung at solemn festivals, 

Living and dead recorded, who, to save 

Her country from a fierce destroyer, chose 

Above the faith of wedlock bands ; my tomb 

With odours visited and annual flowers ; 

Not less renowned than in Mount Ephraim 

Jael, who with inhos2jitable guile 

Smote Sisera sleeping through the temples nailed. 

Nor shall I count it heinous to enjoy 

The public marks of honour and rewai'd 

Conferred upon me, for the piety 

Which to my country I was judged to have showi: 

At this who ever envies or repines, 

I leave him to his lot, and like my own. 

CHOEU8. 

She's gone, a manifest serpent by her sting 
Discovered in the end, till now concealed. 

SAMSON. 

So let her go ; God sent her to debase me, 
And aggravate my folly, who committed 
To such a viper his most sacred trust 
Of secresy, my safety, and my life. 

CHORUS. 

Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange powori 
After offence returning, to regain 
Love once possessed, nor can be easily 
Repulsed without much inward passion felt, 
And secret sting of amorous remorse. 

SAMSON. 

Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end, 
Not wedlock-treachery endangering life. 

CHORUS. 

It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit, 
Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit, 
That woman's love can win or long inherit ; 
But what it is, hard is to say, 
Harder to hit 

(Which way soever men refer it) ; 
Much like thy riddle, Samson, in one day 
Or seven, though one should musing sit. 



378 SAMSON AGONISTBS. 

If any of these, or all, the Timnian bride 
Had not so soon preferred 
Thy paranymph, worthless to thee compared. 
Successor in thy bed. 
Nor both so loosely disallied 
Their nuptials, nor this last so treacherously 
Had shorn the fatal harvest of thy head. 
Is it for that such outward ornament 
Was lavished on their sex, that inward gifts 
"Were left for haste unfinished, judgment scant| 
Capacity not raised to apprehend 
Or value what is best 
In choice, but of test to affect the wrong? 
Or was too much of self-love mixed, 
Of constancy no root infixed. 
That either they love nothing, or not long ? 

Whate'er it be, to wisest men and best 
Seeming at first all heavenly under virgin veil, 
Soft, modest, meek, demure, 
Once joined, the contrary she proves, a thorn 
Intestine, far within defensive arms 
A cleaving mischief, in his way to virtue 
Adverse and turbulent, or by her charms 
Draws him awry enslaved 
With dotage, and his sense depraved 
To foUy and shameful deeds which ruin ends. 
What pilot so expert but needs must wreck 
Embarked with such a steers-mate at the helm ? 

Favoured of Heaven who finds 
One virtuous rarely found. 
That in domestic good combines; 
Happy that house ! his way to peace is smooth : 
But virtue, which breaks through all opposition. 
And all temptation can remove. 
Most shines, and most is acceptable above. 

Therefore God's universal law 
Gave to the man despotic power 
Over his female in due awe, 
Nor from that right to part an hour. 
Smile she or lour ; 
So shall he least confusion draw 



SAM80K AGOOTSTES. 379 

On his whole life, not swayed 
By female usurpation, or dismayed. 
But had we best retire ? I see a storm. 

SAMSON. 

Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain, 

CHORUS. 

But this another kind of tempest brings. 

8AM80N. 

Be less abstruse : my riddling days are past. 

CHORUS. 

Look now for no enchanting voice, nor fear 
The bait of honeyed words : a rougher tongue 
Draws hitherward; I know him by his stride ; 
The gaint Harapha of Gath ; his look 
Haughty as is his pile high-built and proud. 
Comes he in peace ? What wind hath blown him hither 
I less conjecture than when first I saw 
The sumptuous Dalila floating this way : 
His habit carries peace, his brown defiance. 

SAMSON. 

Or peace or not, alike to me he comes. 

CHORUS. 

His fraught we soon shall know : he now arrives. 

HARAPHA. 

I come not, Samson, to condole thy chance, 
As these perhaps, yet wish it had not been. 
Though for no friendly intent. I am of Gath ; 
Men call me Harapha, of stock reno^med 
As Og or Anak, and the Emims old 
That Kiriathaim held : thou know'st me now, 
If thou at all art known. Much I have heard 
Of thy prodigious might, and feats performed 
Incredible to me ; in this displeased, 
That I was never present on the place 
Of those encounters, where we might have tried 
Each other's force in camp or listed field ; 
And now am come to see of whom such noise 
Hath walked about, and each limb to survey. 
If thy appearance answer loud report. 



380 8AM80:tT AG0N1STS8. 

SAMSON. 

The way to know were not to see biit taste. 

HARAPHA. 

Dost thou already single me ? I thought 
Gyves and the mill had tamed thee. Oh, that fortune 
Had brought me to the field, where thou art famed 
To have wrought such wonders with an ass's jaw ! 
I should have forced thee soon with other arms, 
Or left thy carcass where the ass lay thrown : 
So had the glory of prowess been recovered 
To Palestine, won by a Philistine 
From the unforeskinned race, of whom thou bear'st 
The highest name for valiant acts ; that honour 
Certain to have won by mortal duel from thee, 
I lose, prevented by thy eyes put out. 

SAMSON. 

Boast not of what thou wouldst have done, but do 
What then thou wouldst ; thou seest it in thy hand. 

HARAPHA. 

To combat with a blind man I disdain, 
And thou hast need much washing to be touched. 

SAMSON. 

Such usage as your honourable lords 
Afford me, assassinated and betrayed, 
Who durst not with their whole united powers 
In fight withstand me single and unarmed. 
Nor in the house Avith chamber ambushes 
Close-banded durst attack me, no, not sleeping, 
Till they had hired a woman with their gold, 
Breaking her marriage faith to circumvent me. 
Therefore, without feigned shifts, let be assigned 
Some narrow place enclosed, where sight may give thSi 
Or rather flight, no great advantage on me ; 
Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmet 
And brigandine of brass, thy broad habergeon, 
Vant-brass and greaves, and gauntlet, add thy spear, 
A weaver's beam, and seven-times-folded shield, 
I only with an oaken staff will meet thee, 
And raise such outcries on thy clattered iron, 
Which long shall not withhold me from thy head. 



SAMSON AGONISTK8. 381 

That in a little time while breath remains thee, 
Thou oft shalt wish thyself at Gath, to boast 
Again in safety what thou wouldst have done 
To Samson, but shalt never see Gath more. 

HARAPHA. 

Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms, 
Which greatest heroes have in battle worn, 
Their ornament and safety, had not spells 
And black enchantments, some magician's art, 
Armed thee, or charmed thee strong, which thou from 

Heaven 
Feign'dst at thy birth was given thee in thy hair, 
Where strength can least abide, though all thy hairs 
Were bristles, ranged like those that ridge the back 
Of chafed wild boars, or ruffled porcupines. 

SAMSON. 

I know no spells, use no forbidden arts ; 
My trust is in the living God, who gave me 
At my nativity this strength, diffused 
No less through all my sinews, joints, and bones, 
Than thine, while I preserved these locks unshorn, 
The pledge of my unviolated vow. 
For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy god, 
Go to his temple, invocate his aid 
W^ith solemn est devotion, spread before him 
How highly it concerns his glory now 
To frustrate and dissolve these magic spells, 
Which I to be the power of Israel's God 
Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test, 
Offering to combat thee his champion bold. 
With the utmost of his godhead seconded : 
Then thou shalt see, or rather to thy sorrow 
Soon feel, whose God is strongest, thine or mine. 

HARAPHA. 

Presume not on thy God, whate'er he be ; 
Thee he regards not, owns not, hath cut off 
Quite from his people, and delivered up 
Into thy enemies' hand, permitted them 
To put out both thine eyes, and fettered send thee 
Into the common prison, there to grind 
Among the slaves and asses, thy comrades, 



382 SAMSON AG0NISTE8. 

As good for nothing else, no better service 

"With those thy boisterous locks, no worthy match 

For valor to assail, nor by the sword 

Of noble warrior, so to stain his honour, 

But by the barber's razor best subdued. 

SAMSON. 

All these indignities, for such they are 
From thine, these evils I deserve and more, 
Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me 
Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon 
Whose ear is ever open, and his eye 
Gracious to re-admit the suppliant ; 
In confidence whereof I once again 
Defy thee to the trial of mortal fight, 
By combat to decide whose God is God, 
Thine or whom I with Israel's sons adore. 

HABAPHA. 

Fair honour that thou dost thy God, in trusting 
He will accept thee to defend his cause, 
A murderer, a revolter, and a robber. 

SAMSON. 

Tongue-doughty giant, liow dost thou prove me these T 

HARAPHA. 

Ib not thy nation subject to our lords ? 
Their magistrates confessed it, when they took thee 
As a league-breaker, and delivered bound 
Into our hands : for hadst thou not committed 
Notorious murder on those thirty men 
At Ascalon, who never did thee harm. 
Then, like a robber, stripp'dst them of their robes f 
The Philistines, when thou hadst broke the league, 
Went up with armed power thee only seeking, 
To others did no violence nor spoil. . 

SAMSON. 

Among the daughters of the Philistines 
I chose a wife, which argued me no foe ; 
And in your city held my nuptial feast : 
But yoiir ill-meaning politician lords. 
Under pretence of bridal friends and guests, 
Appointed to await me thirty spies. 



SAMSON AG0NISTK8. 383 

Who threatening cruel death constrained the bride 

To wring from me anti tell to them my secret, 

That solved the riddle which I had proposed. 

When I perceived all set on enmity, 

As on my enemies, wherever chanced, 

I used hostility, and took their spoil 

To pay my underrainers in their coin. 

My nation was subjected to your lords ; 

It was the force of conquest ; force with force 

Is well ejected when the conquered can. 

But I, a private person, whom my country 

As a league-breaker gave up bound, presumed 

Single rebellion, and did hostile acts. 

I was no private, but a person raised 

With strength sufficient and command from Heaven 

To free my country ; if their servile minds 

Me their deliverer sent would not receive. 

But to their masters gave me up for nought. 

The un worthier they ; whence to this day they serve. 

I was to do my part from Heaven assigned, 

And had performed it, if my known offence 

Had not disabled me, not all your force : 

These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant 

Though by his blindness maimed for high attempts. 

Who now defies thee thrice to single fight, 

As a petty enterprise of small enforce. 

HARAPHA. 

With thee ! a man condemned, a slave enrolled. 
Due by the law to capital punishment ? 
To fight with vhee no man of arms will deign. 

SAMSON. 

Cam'st thou for this, vain boaster, to survey me. 
To d6scant on my strength, and give thy verdict ? 
Come nearer, j>art not hence so slight informed ; 
But take good heed my hand survey not thee. 

HARAPHA. 

Baal-zebub ! can my ears unused 
Hear these dishonours, and not render death f 

SAMSON. 

No man withholds thee, nothing from thy hand 



384 8A.MBON AG0NISTE8. 

Fear I incurable ; bring up thy van, 
My heels are fettered, but my fist is free. 

HARAPHA. 

This insolence other kind of answer fits. 

SAMSON. 

Go, baffled coward ! lest I run upon thee, 
Though in these chains, bulk without spirit vasty 
And with one buffet lay thy structure low, 
Or swing thee in the air, then dash thee down 
To the hazard of thy brains and shattered sides, 

HARAPHA. 

By Astaroth ! ere long thou shalt lament 
These braveries in irons loaden on thee. 

CHORUS. 

His giantship is gone somewhat crest-fallen, 
Stalking with less unconscionable strides, 
And lower looks, but in a sultry chafe. 

SAMSON. 

I dread him not, nor all his giant brood, 
Though fame divulge him father of five sons, 
All of gigantic size, Goliah chief. 

CHORUS. 

He will directly to the lords, I fear. 
And with malicious counsel stir them up 
Some way or other yet further to afflict thee. 

SAMSON. 

He must allege some cause, and offered fight 
Will not dare mention, lest a question rise 
Whether he durst accept the offer or not, 
And that he durst not plain enough appeared. 
Much more affliction than already felt 
They cannot well impose, nor I sustain ; 
If they intend advantage of my labors, 
The work of many hands, which earns my keeping 
With no small profit daily to my owners. 
But come what will, my deadliest foe will prove 
My sjveediest friend, by death to rid me hence : 
The worst that he can give, to me the best. 
Yet 80 it may fall out, because their end 
Is hate, not help to me, it may with mine 
Draw their own ruin who attempt the deec 



SAMSON AGONISTES. 385 

CHORUS. 

Oh, how comely it is, and how reviving 
To the spirits of just men long oppressed! 
When God into the hands of their deliverer 
Puts invincible might 

To quell the mighty of the earth, the oppressor, 
The brute and boisterous force of violent men 
Hardy and industrious to support 
Tyrannic power, but raging to pursue 
The righteous and all such as honour truth ; 
He all their ammunition 
And feats of war defeats 
With plain heroic magnitude of mind 
And celestial vigour armed, 
Their armouries and magazines contemns, 
Renders them useless, while 
With winged expedition, 
Swift as the lightning glance, he executes 
His errand on the wicked, who, surprised, 
Lose their defence, distracted and amazed. 

But patience is more oft the exercise 
Of saints, the trial of their fortitude, 
Making them each his own deliverer, 
And victor over all 
That tyranny or fortune can inflict. 
Either of these is in thy lot, 
Samson, with might endued 
Above the sons of men ; but sight bereaved 
May chance to number thee with those 
Whom patience finally must crown. 

This idol's day hath been to thee no day of resti 
Labouring thy mind 
More than the working day thy hands. 
4nd yet, perhaps, more trouble is behind. 
For I descry this way 
Some other tending, in his hand 
A sceptre or quaint staff he bears, 
Comes on amain, speed in his look. 
By his habit I discern him now 

25 



886 SAMSON AG0NISTE8. 

A public officer, and now at hand. 
His message will be short and voluble. 

OFFICEE. 

Hebrews, the prisoner Samson here I seek. 

CHORUS. 

His manacles remark him, there he sits. 

OFFICER. 

Samson, to thee our lords thus bid me say : 
This day to Dagon is a solemn feast. 
With sacrifices, triumph, pomp, and games ; 
Thy strength they know surpassing human rate, 
And now some public proof thereof require 
To honour this great feast, and great assembly ; 
Rise therefore with all speed, and come along. 
Where I will see thee heartened and fresh clad, 
To appear as fits before the illustrious lords. 

SAMSON. 

Thou know'st I am an Hebrew, therefore tell them. 
Our law forbids at their religious rites 
My presence ; for that cause I cannot come. 

OFFICER. 

This answer, be assured, will not content them. 

SAMSON. 

Have they not sword-players, and every sort 

Of gymnic artists, wrestlers, riders, runners, 

Jugglers and dancers, antics, mummers, mimics, 

But they must pick me out with shackles tired, 

And over-laboured at their public mill, 

To make them sport with blind activity ? 

Do they not seek occasion of new quarrels 

On my refusal to distress me more, 

Or make a game of my calamities ? 

Return the way thou cam'st, I will not come. 

OFFICER. 

Regard thyself : this will offend them highly, 

SAMSON. 

Myself? my conscience and internal peace. 
Can they think me so broken, so debased 
With corporal servitude, that my mind ever 
Will condescend to such absurd commands ? 



SAMSON AG0NT8TES. 387 

Although their drudge, to be their fool or jester, 

And in my midst of sorrow and heart-grief 

To show them feats, and play before their god, 

The worst of all indignities, yet on rae 

Joined with extreme contempt? I will not come. 

OFFICER. 

My message was imposed on me with speed, 
Brooks no delay ; is this thy resolution ? 

8AMS0N. 

So take it with what speed thy message needs. 

OFFICKE. 

I am sorry what this stoutness will produce. 

SAMSON. 

Perhaps thou shalt have cause to sorrow indeed. 

CHORUS. 

Consider, Samson ; matters now are strained 
Up to the heighth, whether to hold or break ; 
He's gone, and who knows how he may report 
Thy words by adding fuel to the flame ? 
Expect another message more imperious, 
More lordly thundering than thou well wilt bear. 

SAMSON. 

Shall I abuse this consecrated gift 
Of strength, again returning with ray hair 
After my great transgression ; so requite 
Favour renewed, and add a greater sin 
By prostituting holy things to idols ? 
A Nazarite in place abominable 
Vaunting my strength in honour to their Dagon f 
Besides how vile, contemptible, ridiculous, 
What act more execrably unclean, profane? 

CHORUS. 

Yet with this strength thou serv'st the Philistinea 
Idolatrous, uncircumcised, unclean. 

SAMSON. 

Not in their idol-worship, but by labour 
Honest and lawful to deserve my food 
Of those who have me in their civil power. 

CHORUS. 

Where the heart joins not, outward acts defile not. 



888 SAMSON AGONISTES. 

SAMSON. 

Where outward force constrains, the sentence holds. 
But who constrains me to the temple of Dagon, 
Not dragging ? The Philistian lords command : 
Commands are no restraints. If I obey them, 
I do it freely, venturing to displease 
God for the fear of man, and man prefer, 
Set God behind ; which in his jealousy 
Shall never, unrepeuted, find forgiveness. 
Yet that he may dispense with me or thee 
Present in temples at idolatrous rites 
For some important cause, thou need'st not doubt. 

CHORUS. 

How thou wilt here come off surmounts my reach. 

SAMSON. 

Be of good courage, I begin to feel 
Some rousing motions in me which dispose 
To something extraordinary my thoughts. 
I with this messenger will go along. 
Nothing to do, be sure, that may dishonour 
Our law, or stain my vow of Nazarite. 
If there be aught of presage in the mind, 
This day will be remarkable in my life 
By some great act, or of my days the last. 

CHORUS. 

In time thou hast resolved, the man returns. 

OFFICER. 

Samson, this second messai^e from our lords 
To thee I am bid say. Art thou our slave. 
Our captive, at the public mill our drudge. 
And dar'st thou at our sending and command 
Dispute thy coming ? Come without delay ; 
Or we shall find such engines to assail 
And hamper thee, as thou shalt come of force. 
Though thou wert firmlier fastened than a rock. 

SAMSON. 

I could be well content to try their art. 
Which to no few of them would prove pernicious. 
Yet knowing their advantages too many. 
Because they shall not trail me through their streets 



SAMSON AGONISTKS. 389 

Like a wild beast, I am content to go. 
Masters' commands come with a power resistlesi 
To such as owe them absolute subjection ; 
And for a life who will not change his purpose ? 
(So mutable are all the ways of men) 
I et this be sure, in nothing to comply 
Scandalous or forbidden in our law. 

OFFICER. 

I praise thy resolution ; doff these links : 
By this compliance thou wilt win the lords 
To favour, and perhaps to set thee free. 

SAMSON. 

Brethren, farewell ; your company along 
I will not wish, lest it perhaps offend them 
To see me girt with friends ; and how the sight 
Of me as of a common enemy, 
So dreaded once, may now exasperate them 
I know not. Lords are lordliest in their wine ; 
And the well-feasted priest then soonest fired 
With zeal, if aught religion seem concerned ; 
No less the people on their holy-days 
Impetuous, insolent, unquenchable : 
Happen what may, of me expect to hear 
Nothing dishonourable, impure, unworthy 
Our God, our law, my nation, or myself, 
The last of me or no I cannot warrant. 

CHOKUS. 

Go, and the Holy One 
Of Israel be thy guide 

To what may serve his glory best, and spread his name 
Great among the heathen round ; 
Send thee the angel of thy birth, to stand 
Fast by thy side, who from thy father's field 
Rode up in flames after his message told 
Of thy conception, and be now a shield 
Of fire ; that Spirit that first rushed on thee 
In the camp of Dan 
Be efficacious in thee now at need. 
For never was from Heaven imparted 
Measure of strength so great to mortal seed, 



390 SAMSON AGOKISTES. 

As in thy wondrous actions hath been seen. 
But wherefore comes old Manoah in such haste 
With youthful steps ? much livelier than erewhile 
He seems ; supposing here to find his son, 
Or of him bringing to us some glad news? 

MANOAH. 

Peace with you, brethren ; my inducement hither 
Was not at present here to find my son. 
By order of the lords new parted hence 
To come and play before thera at their feast. 
I heard all as I came, the city rings. 
And numbers thither flock, I had no will. 
Lest I should see him forced to things unseemly. 
But that which moved my coming now, was chiefly 
To give ye part with me what hope I have 
With good success to work his liberty. 

CHORUS. 

That hope would much rejoice us to partake 
With thee ; say, reverend sire, we thirst to hear. 
MANGA ri. 

I have attempted one by one the lords 
Either at home, or through the high street passing, 
With supplication prone and father's tears. 
To accept of ransom for my son their prisoner. 
Some much averse I found and wondrous harsh, 
Contemptuous, proud, set on revenge and spite; 
That part most reverenced Dagon and his jn-iests 
Others more moderate seeming, but their aim 
Private reward, for which both god and state 
They easily would set to sale ; a third 
More generous far and civil, who confessed 
They had enough revenged, having reduced 
Their foe to misery beneath their fears, 
The rest was magnanimity to remit, 
If some convenient ransom were proposed. 
What noise or shout was that ? it tore the sky. 

CHORUS. 

Doubtless the people shouting to behold 
Their once great dread, captive and blind before them, 
Or at some proof of strength before them shown. 



SAMSON AGONISTES. 391 

MANOAH. 

His ransom, if my whole inlieritance 
May compass it, shall willingly be paid 
And numbered down : much rather I shall choose 
To live the poorest in my tribe, than richest, 
And he in that calamitous prison left. 
No, I am fixed not to part hence without him. 
For his redemption all my patrimony, 
If need be, I am ready to forego 
And quit : not wanting him, I shall want nothing. 

CHORUS. 

Fathers are wont to lay up for their sons, 
Thou for thy son art bent to lay out all ; 
Sons wont to nurse their parents in old age, 
Thou in old age car'st how to nurse thy son, 
Made older than thy age through eyesight lost. 

MANOAH. 

It shall be my delight to tend his eyes, 
And view him sitting in the house, ennobled 
With all those high exploits by him achieved, 
And on his shoulders waving down those locks, 
That of a nation armed the strength contained ; 
And I persuade me God had not permitted 
His strength again to grow up with his hair 
Garrisoned round about him like a camp 
Of faithful soldiery, were not his purpose 
To use him further yet in some great service, 
Not to sit idle with so great a gift 
Useless, and thence ridiculous about him. 
And since his strength with eyesight was not lost| 
God will restore him eyesight to his strength. 

CHOEUS. 

Thy hopes are not ill-founded, nor seem vain 
Of his delivery, and thy joy thereon 
Conceived, agreeable to a father's love. 
In both which we, as next, participate. 

MANOAH. 

I know your friendly minds, and — Oh, what noise I 
Mercy of Heaven 1 what hideous noise was that ? 
Horribly loud, imlike the former shout. 



892 SAMSON AG0NI8TB8. 

CHORUS. 

Noise call you it, or universal groan, 
As if the whole inhabitation perished ! 
Blood, death, and deathful deeds are in that noise, 
Ruin, destruction at the utmost point. 

MANOAH. 

Of ruin, indeed, utiethought I heard the noise : 
Oh I it continues ; they have slain my son ! 

CHOKU8. 

Thy son is rather slaying them ; that outcry 
From slaughter of one foe could not ascend. 

MANOAH. 

Some dismal accident it needs must be : 
What shall we do, stay here or- run and see? 

CHORUS. 

Best keep together here, lest running thither 
We unawares run into danger's mouth. 
This evil on the Philistines is fallen ; 
From whom could else a general cry be heard ? 
The sufferers then will scarce molest us here. 
From other hands we need not much to fear. 
What if his eyesight (for to Israel's God 
Nothing is hard) by miracle restored, 
He now be dealing dole among his foes. 
And over heaps of slaughtered walk his way ? 

MANOAH. 

That were a joy presumptuous to be thought. 

CHORUS. 

Yet God hath wrought things as incredible 
For his people of old ; what hinders now ? 

MANOAH. 

He can, I know, but doubt to think he will ; 
Yet hope would fain subscribe, and tempts belief. 
A little stay wUl bring some notice hither. 

CHORUS. 

Of good or bad so great, of bad the sooner, 
For evil news rides post, while good news baits. 
And to our wish 1 see one hither speeding, 
An Hebrew, as I guess, and of our tribe. 



8AHS0K A60NI8TB8. 893 

MESSENGBE. 

Oil, whither shall I run, or which way fly 
The sight of this so horrid spectacle. 
Which erst my eyes beheld and yet behold ? 
For dire imagination still pursues me. 
But providence or instinct of nature seems, 
Or reason though disturbed, and scarce consulted. 
To have guided me aright, I know not how, 
To thee first, reverend Manoah, and to these 
My countrymen, whom here I knew remaining 
As at some distance from the place of horror, 
So in the sad event too much concerned. 

MANOAH. 

The accident was loud, and here before thee 
With rueful cry, yet what it was we hear not ; 
No preface needs, thou seest we long to know. 

MESSENGEE. 

It would burst forth, but I recover breath 
And sense distract, to know well what I utter. 

MANOAH. 

Tell us the sum ; the circumstance defer. 

MESSENGER. 

Gaza yet stands, but all her sons are fallen ; 
All in a moment overwhelmed and fallen. 

MANOAH. 

Sad, but thou know'st to Israelites not saddest, 
The desolation of a hostile city. 

MESSENGER. 

Feed on that first : there may in grief be surfeit. 

MANOAH. 

Relate by whom ? 

MESSENGER. 

By Samson. 

MANOAH. 

That still lessens 
The sorrow, and converts it nigh to joy. 

MESSENGER. 

Ah ! Manoah, I refrain too suddenly 
To utter what will come at last too soon ; 



894 SAMSON A60NISTES. 

Lest evil tidings with too rude irruption 
Hitting thy aged ear should pierce too deep. 

MANOAH. 

Suspense in news is torture ; speak them out. 

MESSENGER. 

Take then the worst in brief ; Samson is dead I 

MANOAH. 

The worst indeed. Oh, all my hope's defeated 
To free him hence ! but death, who sets all free, 
Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. 
What windy joy this day had I conceived, 
Hopeful of hie delivery, which now proves 
Abortive as the first-born bloom of spring 
Nipped with the lagging rear of winter's frost ! 
Yet ere I give the reins to grief, say first, 
How died he ? death to life is crown or shame. 
All by him fell, thou say'st ; by whom fell he ? 
What glorious hand gave Samson his death's wound? 

MESSENGER, 

Unwounded of his enemies he fell. 

MANOAH. 

Wearied with slaughter then, or how ? explain, 

MESSENGER. 

By his own hands. 

MANOAH. 

Self-violence? What cause 
Brought him so soon at variance with himself 
Among his foes? 

MESSENGER. 

Inevitable cause 
At once both to destroy and be destroyed : 
The edifice, where all were met to see him. 
Upon their heads and on his own he pulled. 

MANOAH. 

O lastly over-strong against thyself ! 
A dreadful way thou took'st to thy revenge. 
More than enough we know ; but while things yet 
Are in confusion, give us, if thou canst, 
Eye-witness of what first or last was don" 
Relation more particular and distinct 



SAMSON" AGONISTES. 895 

MBSSENGEE. 

Occasions drew me early to this city, 
And as the gates I entered with sunrise, 
The morning trumpets festival proclaimed 
Through each high street : little I had despatched, 
When all abroad was rumoured that this day 
Samson should be brought forth, to show the people 
Proof of his mighty strength in feats and games ; 
I sorrowed at his captive state, but minded 
Not to be absent at that spectacle. 
The building was a spacious theatre. 
Half round, on two main pillars vaulted high. 
With seats where all the lords and each degree 
Of sort, might sit in order to behold ; 
The other side was open, where the throng 
On banks and scaffolds under sky might stand ; 
I among these aloof obscurely stood. 
The feast and noon grew high, and sacrifice 
Had filled their hearts with mirth, high cheer, and wine, 
When to their sports they turned. Immediately 
Was Samson as a public servant brought, 
In their state livery clad : before him pipes 
And timbrels ; on each side went armed guards. 
Both horse and foot ; before him and behind, 
Archers and slingers, cataphracts and spears. 
At sight of him the people with a shout 
Rifted the air, clamouring their god with praise. 
Who had made their dreadful enemy their thraU. 
He, patient but undaunted, where they led him. 
Came to the place, and what was set before him. 
Which without help of eye might be assayed. 
To heave, pull, draw, or break, he still performed 
All with incredible, stupendous force, 
None daring to appear antagonist. 
At length for intermission sake they led him 
Between the pillars ; he his guide requested 
(For so from such as nearer stood we heard), 
As overtired, to let him lean awhile 
With both his arms on those two massy pillars. 
That to the arched roof gave main support. 



396 SAMSON AG0NISTE8. 

He, unsuspicious, led him ; which ■vrhen Samson 

Felt in his arms, with head awhile inclined, 

And eyes fast fixed, he stood, as one who prayed, 

Or some great ma*;ter in his raind revolved : 

At last, with head erect, thus cried aloud : 

" Hitherto, lords, what your commands imposed 

I have performed, as reason was, obeying. 

Not without wonder or delight beheld : 

Now, of my own accord, such other trial 

I mean to show you of my strength, yet greater ; 

As with amaze shall strike all who behold." 

This uttered, straining all his nerves he bowed, 

As with the force of winds and waters pent. 

When mountains tremble, those two massy piUars 

With horrible convulsion to and fro 

He tugged, he shook, till down they came and drew 

The whole roof after them, with burst of thunder, 

Upon the heads of all who sat beneath. 

Lords, ladies, captains, counsellors, or priests. 

Their choice nobility and flower, not only 

Of this but each Philistian city round 

Met from all parts to solemnize this feast. 

Samson, with these immixed, inevitably 

Pulled down the same destruction on himself ; 

The vulgar only 'scaped who stood without. 

CHORUS. 

Oh, dearly bought revenge, yet glorious I 
Living or dying thou hast fulfilled 
The work for which thou wast foretold 
To Israel, and now liest victorious 
Among thy slain, self-killed, 
Not willingly, but tangled in the fold 
Of dire necessity, whose law in death conjoined 
Thee with thy slaughtered foes in number more 
Than all thy life had slain before. 

8EMICHOKUS. 

While their hearts were jocund and sublime, 
Drunk with idolatry, drunk with wine, 
And fat regorged of bulls and goats, 
Chanting their idol, and preferring 



SAMSON AGONI8TK8. 897 

Before out living Dread who dwells 

In Silo, his bright sanctuary ; 

Among them he a spirit of frenzy sent, 

Who hurt their minds, 

And urged them on with mad desire 

To call in haste for their destroyer ; 

They, only set on sport and play, 

Unweetingly importuned 

Their own destruction to come speedy upon them. 

So fond are mortal men, 

Fallen into wrath divine, 

As their own ruin on themselves to invite, 

Insensate left, or to sense reprobate, 

And with blindness internal struck. 

SEMICHORU8. 

But he, though blind of sight, 
Despised and thought extinguished quite, 
With inward eyes illuminated. 
His fiery virtue roused 
From under ashes into sudden flame ; 
And as an evening dragon came. 
Assailant on the perched roosts, 
And nests in order ranged 
Of tame villatic fowl ; but as an eagle 
His cloudless thunder bolted on their heads. 
So virtue given for lost. 
Depressed, and overthrown, as seemed. 
Like that self-begotten bird, 
In the Arabian woods imbost, 
That no second knows nor third, 
And lay erewhile a holocaust, 
From out her ashy womb now teemed. 
Revives, reflourishes, then vigorous most 
When most unactive deemed. 
And though her body die, her fame survives, 
A secular bird, ages of lives. 

MANOAH. 

Come, come ! no time for lamentation now ; 
Nor much more cause ; Samson hath quit himself 
Like Samson, and heroically hath finished 



898 SAMSON AGONI8TB8. 

A life heroic, on his enemies 

Fully revenged, hath left them years of mourning 

And lamentation to the sons of Caphtor 

Through all Philistiau bounds ; to Israel 

Honour hath left, and freedom, let but them 

Find courage to lay hold on this occasion ; 

To himself and father's house eternal fame ; 

And which is best and happiest yet, all this 

With God not parted from him, as was feared, 

But favouring and assisting to the end. 

Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail 

Or knock the breast ; no weakness, no contempt, 

Dispraise, or blame ; nothing but well and fair, 

And what may quiet us in a death so noble. 

Let us go find the body where it lies 

Soaked in his enemies' blood ; and from the stream, 

With lavers pure, and cleansing herbs, wash off 

The clotted gore. I with what speed the while 

(Gaza is not in plight to say us nay) 

Will send for all my kindred, all my friends, 

To fetch him hence, and solemnly attend 

With silent obsequy and funeral train 

Home to his father's house : there will I build him 

A monument, and plant it round with shade 

Of laurel ever green, and branching palm. 

With all his trophies hung, and acts enrolled 

In copious legend, or sweet lyric song. 

Thither shall all the valiant youth resort, 

And from his memory inflame their breasts 

To matchless valour, and adventures high ; 

The virgins also shail, on feastful days. 

Visit his tomb with flowers, only bewailing 

His lot unfortunate in nuptial choice, 

From whence captivity and loss of eyes. 

CHORUS. 

All is best, though we oft doubt, 
What the unsearchable dispose 
Of highest wisdom brings about. 
And ever best found in the close. 
Oft he seems to hide his face, 



SAMSON AGON] STBS. 399 

But unexpectedly returns, 

And to his faithful champion hath in place 

Bore witness gloriously ; whence Gaza mourns, 

And all that band them to resist 

His uncontrollable intent ; 

His servants he, with new acquist 

Of true experience from this great event, 

With peace and consolation hath dismissed 

And calm of mind all passion spent. 



^netnB nn general dDrtaHtnnH. 



" Baccare frontem 
Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua future. 

Virgil, Eclog. 7. 



I. 

ANNO ^TATIS XVII. 

ON THE DEATH OF A FAIB INFANT DYING OF A GOUaB. 



O FAIREST flower ! no sooner blown but blasted, 
Soft silken primrose fading timelessly, 
Summer's chief honoxir, if thou hadst out-lasted 
Bleak Winter's force that made thy blossom dry ; 
For he being amorous on that lovely dye 

That did thy cheek envermcil, thought to kiss, 
But killed, alas ! and then bewailed his fatal bliss. 

n. 

For since grim Aquilo, his charioteer, 
By boisterous rape the Athenian damsel got. 
He thought it touched his deity full near. 
If likewise he some fair one wedded not. 
Thereby to wipe away the infamous blot 

Of long-uncoupled bed, and childless eld. 
Which 'mongst the wanton gods a foul reproach was 
held. 

(400) 



POKTVrS ON- SEyERA.L OCCASIONS. 401 

m. 

So momiting up in icy-pearled car, 
Through middle empire of the freezing air 
He wandered long, till thee he spied from far; 
There ended was his quest, there ceased his care. 
Down he descended from his snow-soft chair, 
But all unwares with his cold-kind embrace 
Unhoused thy virgin soul from her fair biding place. 

IV. 

Vet art thou not inglorious in thy fate ; 
For so Apollo, with unweeting hand, 
Whilome did slay his dearly-loved mate, 
Young Hyacinth, born on Eurotas' strand, 
Young Hyacinth, the pride of Sjiartan land ; 

But then transformed him to a jiurple flower : 
Alack ! that so to change thee "Winter had no power 

V. 

Yet can I not persuade me thou art dead. 
Or that thy corse corrupts in earth's dark womb, 
Or that thy beauties lie in wormy bed. 
Hid from the world in a low-delved tomb ; 
Could Heaven for pity be so strictly doom? *\ 
Oh, no ! for something in thy face did shine ] 
Above mortality, that showed thou wast divine. / 

VI. 

Resolve me then, O soul most surely blest ! 
(If so it be that thou these plaints dost hear) ; 
Tell me, bright spirit, where'er thou hoverest, 
Whether above that high first-moving sphere, 
Or in the Elysian fields (if such there were) ; 

Oh, say me true, if thou wert moral wight, 
And why from us so quickly thou didst take thy flight ? 

vn. 
Wert thou some star which from the ruined roof 
Of shaked Olympus by mischance didst fall; 
Which careful Jove in nature's true behoof 
Took up, and in fit place did reinstal ? 
Or did of late earth's sons besiege the wall 

Of sheeny Heaven, and thou some goddess fled 
Amongst us here below to hide thy nectared head ? 

26 



402 POBMS ON SEVEBAL OCCIASIONS. 

vm. 
Or wert thuu that just maid who once before 
Forsook the hated earth, oh, tell me sooth ! 
And cam'st again to visit us once more ? 
Or wert thou that sweet smiling youth ? 
Or that crowned matron sage, white-robed Truth? 

Or any other of that heavenly brood 
Let down in cloudy throne to do the world some good ? 

IX. 

Or wert thou of the golden-winged host. 
Who, having clad thyself in human weed, 
To earth from thy prefixed seat didst host, 
And after short abode liy back with speed, 
As if to show what creatures Heaven doth breed, 

Thereby to set the hearts of men on fire. 
To scorn the sordid world, and unto Heaven aspire ? 

X. 

But oh ! why didst thou not stay here below 
To bless us with thy Heaven-loved innocence. 
To slake his wrath whom sin hath made our foe, 
To turn swift-rushing black perdition hence, 
Or drive away the slaughtering ])estilence. 

To stand 'twixt us and onr deserved smart ? 
But thou canst best perform that office where thou art. 

XI. 

Then thou, the mother of so sweet a child, 
Her false imagined loss cease to lament. 
And wisely learn to curb thy sorrows wild ; 
Think what a present thou to God hast sent, 
And render him with patience Avhat he lent ; 

This if thou do, he will an offspring give, 
That till the world's last end shall make thy name to live. 



II. 
ANNO ^TATIS XIX. 

[At a vacation exercise in the College, part Latin, part English. Tha 
Latin speecLes ended, the English thus began.] 

Hail, native language ! that by sinews weak 
Didst move my first endeavouring tongue to speak, 



POEMS OS SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 403 

And mad'st imperfect words with cliildish trips, 

Half imjtronounced, slide through my infant lips, 

Driving dumb silence from the portal door. 

Where he had mutely sat two years before : 

Here I salute thee, and thy pardon ask, 

That now I use thee in my latter task : 

Small loss it is that thence can come unto thee, 

I know my tongue but little grace can do thee: 

Thou need'st not be ambitious to be first, 

Believe me I have thither packed the worst ; 

And, if it happen as I did forecast, 

The daintiest dishes shall be served up last. 

I pray thee then deny me not thy aid 

For this same small neglect that I have made ; 

But haste thee straight to do me once a pleasure. 

And from thy wardrobe bring thy chiefest treasure, 

Not those new-fangled toys and trimming slight 

Which takes our late fantastics with delight. 

But cull those richest robes and gay'st attire 

Which deepest spirits and choicest wits desire : 

I have some naked thoughts that rove about, 

And loudly knock to have their passage out ; 

And, weary of their place, do only stay 

Till thou hast decked them in thy best array, 

That so they may, without suspect or fears. 

Fly swiftly to this fair assembly's ears ; 

Yet I had rather, if I were to choose. 

Thy service in some graver subject use. 

Such as may make thee search thy coffers round, 

Before thou clothe my fancy in fit sound : 

Such where the deep transported mind may soar 

Above the wheeling poles, and at Heaven's door 

Look in, and see each blissful deity 

How he before the thunderous throne doth lie. 

Listening to what unshorn Apollo sings 

To the touch of golden wires, while Hebe brings 

Immortal nectar to her kingly sire ; 

Then passing through the s])heres of watchful fire, 

And misty regions of wide air next under. 

And hills of snow and lofts of piled thunder, 



404 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

May tell at length how green-eyed Neptune raves, 

In Heaven's defiance mustering all his waves ; 

Then sing of secret things that came to pass 

When beldame Nature in her cradle was; 

And last of kings and queens and heroes old, 

Such as the \\ ise Demodocus once told 

In solemn songs at king Alcinous' feast 

"While sad Ulysses' sovd and all the rest 

Are held with his melodious harmony 

In willing chains and sweet captivity. 

But fie, my wandering muse, how thou dost stray! 

Expectance calls thee now another way; 

Thou know'st it must be now thy only bent 

To keep in compass of thy predicament : 

Then quick about thy purposed business come, 

That to the next I may resign my room. 

[Then Ens is represented as father of the Predicaments, his ten sons 
whereof the eldest stood for Substance with his canons, which En«, 
thus speaking, explains-] 

Good luck befriend thee, son ; for at thy birth 

The fairy ladies danced upon the earth ; 

Thy drowsy nurse hath sworn she did them spy 

Come tripping to the room where thou didst lie. 

And, sweetly singing round about thy bed, 

Strew all their blessings on thy sleeping head. 

She heard them give thee this, that thou shouldst still 

From eyes of mortals walk invisible : 

Yet there is something that doth force my fear. 

For once it was my dismal hap to hear 

A sibyl old, bow-bent with crooked age, 

That far events full wisely could presage, 

And in time's long and dark prospective glass 

Foresaw what future days should bring to pass : 

Your son, said she (nor can you it prevent), 

Shall subject be to many an accident. 

O'er all his brethren he shall reign as king, 

Yet every one shall make him underling, 

And those that cannot live from him asunder 

Ungratefully shall strive to keep him under. 

In worth and excellence he shall out-go them, 



POBMS OK SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 405 

Fet, being above them, he shall be below them : 

From others he shall stand in need of nothing, 

Yet on his brothers shall depend for clothing. 

To find a foe it shall not be his hap, 

And peace shall lull him in her flowery lap; 

Yet shall he live in strife, and at his door 

Devouring war shall never cease to roar : 

Yea it shall be his natural property 

To harbour those that are at enmity. 

What power, what force, what mighty spell, if not 

Your learned hand's, can loose this Gordian knot? 

[The next, Quantity and Quality, spake in prose, then Rela- 
tion waa called by his name.] 

Rivers, arise ! whether thou be the son 

Of utmost Tweed, or Oose, or gulfy Dun ; 

Or Trent, who, like some earth-born giant, spreads 

His thirty arms along the indented meads ; 

Or sullen Mole, that runneth underneath ; 

Or Severn swift, guilty of maidens' death; 

Or rocky Avon ; or of sedgy Lee ; 

Or coaly Tine ; or ancient hallowed Dee ; 

Or Humber loud, that keeps the Scythian's name , 

Or Medway smooth ; or royal towered Thame. 

[The rest waa prose.] 



III. 

ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY. 

Composed 1629. 
1. 
This is the month, and this the happy morn, 
Wherein the Son of Heaven's eternal King, 
Of wedded maid, and virgin mother born, 
Our great redemption from above did bring; 
For so the holy sages once did sing. 

That he our deadly forfeit should release, 
And with his Father work us a perpetual peace. 

II. 
That glorious form, that light unsufferable, 
And that far-beaming blaze of majesty 



406 POEMS ON SBVEBAL OCCASIONS. 

Wherewith he wont at Heaven's high council-table 

To sit the midst of Trinal Unity, 

He laid aside ; and here with us to be, 

Forsook the courts of everlasting day, 
And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay. 

ni. 
Say, heavenly muse, shall not thy sacred vein 
Afford a present to the infant God ? 
Hast thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain, 
To welcome him to this his new abode. 
Now while the Heaven, by the sun's team untrod, 

Hath took no print of the approaching light, 
And all the spangled host keep watch in squadrone 
bright ? 

rv. 
See how from far upon the eastern road 
The Btar-led wizards haste with odours sweet : 
Oh, run, prevent them with thy humble ode, 
And lay it lowly at his blessed feet ; 
Have thou the honour first thy Lord to greet, 

And join thy voice unto the angel quire. 
From out his secret altar touched with hallowed fire. 

The Hymn. 
I. 

It was the winter wild. 
While the Heaven-born child 

All meanly wrapped in the rude manger lies : 
Nature in awe to him 
Had doffed her gaudy trim, 

With her great Master so to sympathize : 
It was no season then for her 
To wanton with the sun, her lusty paramour. 

u. 
Only with speeches fair 
She woes the gentle air 

To hide her guilty front with innocent snoAT, 
And on her naked shame, 
Pollute with sinful blame, 

The saintly veil of maiden white to throw, 



POEMS ON 8EVKRAL OCCASIONS. 407 

Confounded, that her Maker's eyes 

Should look 80 near upon her foul deformities. 

ra. 
But he, her fears to cease, 
Sent down the meek-eyed Peace ; 

She, crowned with olive green, came softly sliding 
Down throiigh the turning sphere 
His ready harbinger. 

With turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing, 
And waving wide her myrtle wand. 
She strikes an universal peace through sea and land, 

IV. 

No war, or battle's sound. 
Was heard the world around : 

The idle spear and shield were high up hung ; 
The hooked chariot stood, 
Unstained with hostile blood ; 

The trumpet spake not to the arm^d throng, 
And kings sat still with awful eye, 
As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by. 

V. 

But peaceful was the night 
Wherein the Prince of Light 

His reign of peace upon the earth began : 
The winds with wonder whist 
Smoothly the waters kissed. 

Whispering new joys to tlie mild ocean, 
Who now hath quite forgot to rave. 
While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed ware. 

VI. 

The stars with deep amaze 
Stand fixed in stedfast gaze. 

Bending one way their precious influence, 
And will not take their flight, 
For all the morning light. 

Or Lucifer that often warned them thence; 
But in their glimmering orbs did glow, 
Until their Lord himself bespake, and bid them go. 

VII. 

And though the shady gloom 
Had given day her room, 



408 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

The STin himself withheld his wonted speed, 
And hid his head for shame, 
As his inferior flame 

The new enlightened world no more should need ; 
He saw a greater sun appear 
Than his bright throne, or burning axletree, could bear. 

vin. 
The shepherds on the lawn. 
Or e'er the point of dawn, 

Sat simply chatting in a rustic row ; 
Full little thought they then. 
That the mighty Pan 

Was kindly come to live with them below ; 
Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep, 
Was aU that did their silly thoughts so busy keep. 

IX. 

When such music sweet 
Their hearts and ears did greet, 

As never was by mortal finger strook. 
Divinely-warbled voice 
Answering the stringed noise, 

As all their souls in blissful rapture took : 
The air, such pleasure loth to lose, 
With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly close. 

X. 

Nature that heard such sound. 
Beneath the hollow round 

Of Cynthia's seat, the airy region thrilling, 
Now was almost won 
To think her part was done. 

And that her reign had here its last fulfllling; 
She knew such harmony alone 
Could hold all heaven and earth in happier union. 

XI. 

At last surrounds their sight 
A globe of circular light, 

That with long beams the shame-faced night arrayed ; 
The helmed cherubim, 
And sworded seraphim, 

Are seen in glittering ranks with wings displayed, 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 409 

Harping in loud and solemn quire, 

With unexpressive notes to Heaven's new-born Heir 

xn. 
Such music (as 'tis said) 
Before was never made, 

But wheu of old the sons of morning sung, 
While the Creator great 
Ilis constellations set, 

And the well-balanced world on hinges hung, 
And cast the dark foundations deep, 
And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep. 

XIII. 

Ring out, ye crystal spheres, 
Once bless our human ears 

(If ye have power to touch our senses so), 
And let your silver chime 
Move in melodious time, 

And let the base of Heaven's deep organ blow, 
And with your ninefold harmony 
Make up full consort to the angelic symphony. 

XIV. 

For if such holy song 
Enwrap our fancy long, 

Time will run back, and fetch the age of gold, 
And speckled Vanity 
Will sicken soon and die. 

And leprous Sin will melt from earthly mould. 
And Hell itself will pass away. 
And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day. 

XV. 

Yea, Truth and Justice then 
Will down return to men. 

Orbed in a rainbow ; and like glories wearing 
Mercy will sit between, 
Tlironed in celestial sheen, 

With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering, 
And Heaven, as at some festival. 
Will open wide the gates of her high palace hall. 



410 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

XVI. 

But wisest Fate says no, 
This must not yet be so, 

The babe lies yet in smiling infancy, 
That on the bitter cross 
Must redeem our loss ; 

So both himself and us to glorify : 
Yet first to those ychained in sleep. 

The wakeful trump of doom must thunder through the 
deep, 

xvn. 
With such a horrid clang 
As on Mount Sinai rang, 

While the red fire and smouldering clouds out brake: 
The aged earth aghast, 
With terror of that blast. 

Shall from the surface to the centre shake ; 
When at the world's last session. 
The dreadful Judge in middle air shall spread his throne. 

xvni. 
And then at last our bliss 
Full and perfect is. 

But now begins ; for, from this happy day, 
The old dragon, underground 
In straiter limits bound, 

Not half so far casts his usurped sway, 
And wroth to see his kingdom fail, 
Swinges the scaly horror of his folded tail. 

XIX. 

The oracles are dumb, 
No voice or hideous hum 

Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving. 
Apollo from his shrine 
Can no more divine. 

With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving. 
No nightly trance, or breathed spell. 
Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell. 

XX. 

The lonely mountains o'er, 
And the resounding shore. 



POEMS ON SBVBBAL OCCASIONS. 411 

A voice of weeping heard and loud lament; 

From haunted spring, and dale 
Edged with poplar pale, 

The parting genius is with sighing sent ; 
With flower-inwoven tresses torn 
The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn 

XXI. 

In consecrated earth, 
And on the holy hearth, 

The Lars and Lemures moan with midnight plaint ; 
In urns, and altars round, 
A drear and dying sound 

Affrights the Flamens at their service quaint ; 
And the chill marble seems to sweat. 
While each peculiar power foregoes his wonted seat 

XXII. 

Peor and Baalim 
Forsake their temples dim, 

With that twice battered god of Palestine ; 
And mooned Ashtaroth, 
Heaven's queen and mother both. 

Now sits not girt with tapers' holy shine ; 
The Lybic Hammon shrinks his horn, 
In vain the Tyrian maids their wounded Thammuz mourn. 

xxin. 
And sullen Moloch fled, 
Hath left in shadows dread 

His burning idol all of blackest hue; 
In vain with cymbals' ring 
They call the grisly king. 

In dismal dance about the furnace blue ; 
The brutish gods of Nile as fast, 
Isis, and Orus, and the dog Anubis, haste. 

XXIV. 

Nor is Osiris seen 

In Memphian grove or green, 

Trampling the unshowered grass with lowings loud : 
Nor can he be at rest 
Within his sacred chest, 

Nought but profoundest hell can be his shroud ; 



412 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

In vain with timbrelled anthems dark 

The sable-stolid sorcerers bear his worshipped ark. 

XIV. 

He feels from Juda's land 
The dreaded infant's hand, 

The rays of Bethlehem blind his dusky eyn ; 
Nor all the gods beside, 
Longer dare abide. 

Not Typhon huge ending in snaky twine : 
Our Babe to show his Godhead true. 
Can in his swaddling bands control the damned crew. 

XXVI. 

So when the sun in bed, 
Curtained with cloudy red, 

Pillows his chin upon an orient wave, 
The flocking shadows pale 
Troop to the infernal jail, 

Each fettered ghost slips to his several grave, 
And the yellow-skirted fays 
Fly after the night-steeds, leaving their moon-loved maze 

XXVII. 

But see the virgin blest 
Hath laid her Babe to rest, 

Time is our tedious song should here have ending : 
Heaven's youngest teemed star 
Hath fixed her polished car. 

Her sleeping Lord with handmaid lamp attending: 
And all about the courtly stable 
Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable. 



ly. 

THE PASSION. 

I. 

Erewhile of music, and ethereal mirth, 
Wherewith the stage of air and earth did ring, 
And joyous news of heavenly Infant's birth. 
My muse with angels did divide to sing ; 
But headlong joy is ever on the wing, 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 413 

In winter solstice like the shortened liglit 
Soon swallowed up in dark and long out-living night. 

II. 
For now to sorrow must 1 1 jne my song, 
And set my harp to notes of saddest woe, 
Which on our dearest Lord did seize ere long, 
Dangers, and snares, and wrongs, and worse than so, 
Which he for us did freely undergo : 

Most perfect Hero, tried in heaviest pliglit 
Of labours huge and hard, too hard for human wight , 

in. 
He, sovran Priest, stooping his regal head. 
That dropped with odorous oil down his fair eyes, 
Poor fleshly tabernacle entered, 
His starry front low-roofed beneath the skies : 
Oh, what a mask was there, what a disguise ! 

Yet more ; the stroke of death he must abide, 
Then lies him meekly down fast by his brethren's side. 

IV. 

These latest scenes confine my roving verse, 
To this horizon is my Phoebus bound ; 
His godlike acts, and his temptations fierce, 
And former sufferings other where are found ; 
Loud o'er the rest Cremona's trump doth sound , 

Me softer airs befit, and softer strings 
Of lute, or viol still, more apt for mournful things. 

V. 

Befriend me night, best patroness of grief, 

Over the pole thy thickest mantle throw, 

And work my flattered fancy to belief. 

That Heaven and Earth are coloured with my woe; 

My sorrows are too dark for day to know: 

The leaves should all be black whereon I write. 
And letters, where my tears have washed, a wannish white 

VI. 

See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels, 
That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood. 
My spirit some transporting cherub feels. 
To bear me where the towers of Salem stood. 
Once glorious towers, now sunk in guiltless blood ; 



414 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIOXS. 

There doth my soul in holy vision sit 
In pensive trance, and anguish, and ecstatic fit. 

VII. 

Mine eye hath found that sad sepulchral rock 
That was the casket of Heaven's richest store. 
And here though grief my feeble hands up lock, 
Yet on the softened quarry would I score 
My plaining verse as lively as before ; 

For sure so well instructed are my tears, 
That they would fitly fall in ordered characterg. 

vni. 
Or should I thence, hurried on viewless wing, 
Take up a weeping on the mountains wild, 
The gentle neighbourhood of grove and spring 
Would soon unbosom all their echoes mild, 
And I (for grief is easily beguiled) 

Might think the infection of my sorrows loud 

Had got a race of mourners on some pregnant cloud. 

[This subject the author finding to be above the years he had, when ^a 
wrote it, and nothing satisfied with what was begun, left it unfinishcu.] 



V. 
ON TIME. 

Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race ; 

Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours, 

Whose speed is but the heavy plummet's pace ; 

And glut thyself with what thy womb devours, 

Which is no more than what is false and vain. 

And merely mortal dross ; 

So little is our loss, 

So little is thy gain. 

For when as each thing bad thou hast entombed, 

And last of all thy greedy self consumed. 

Then long eternity shall greet our bliss 

With an individual kiss ; 

And joy shall overtake us as a flood, 

When every thing that is sincerely good 

And perfectly divine. 



POEMS ON" SEVERAL OCCxiSIONS. 415 

With truth, and peace, and love, shall ever shine 

About the supreme throne 

Of him, to whose happy-making sight alone 

When once our heavenly-guided soul shall climb, 

Then all this earthy grossness quit, 

Attired with stars, we shall for ever sit. 

Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee, 
Time. 



VI. 
UPON THE CIRCUMCISION. 

Ye flaming powers, and M'inged warriors bright, 
That erst with music, and triumphant song. 
First heard by happy watchful shepherds' ear. 
So sweetly sung your joy the clouds along 
Through the soft silence of the listening night, 
Now mourn ; and if sad share with us to bear 
Your fiery essence can distil no tear, 
Bum in your sighs, and borrow 
Seas wept from our deep sorrow : 
He who with all Heaven's heraldry whilere 
Entered the world, now bleeds to give us ease; 
Alas ! how soon our sin 
Sore doth begin 

His infancy to seize ! 

more exceeding love, or law more just ? 

Just law, indeed, but more exceeding love ! 

For we by rightful doom remediless 

Were lost in death, till he that dwelt above, 

High throned in secret bliss, for us frail dust 

Emptied his glory, even to nakedness ; 

And that great covenant which we still transgrew 

Entirely satisfied. 

And the full wrath beside 

Of vengeful justice bore for our excess. 

And seals obedience first with wounding smart 

This day ; but oh, ere long, 

Huge pangs and strong 

Will pierce more near his heart. 



416 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

VII. 

AT A SOLEMN MUSIC. 

Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heaven's joy, 

Sphere-born harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse, 

Wed your divine sounds, and mixed power employ, 

Dead things with inbreathed sense able to pierce, 

And to our high-raised fantasy present 

That undisturbed song of pure concent, 

Aye sung before the sapphire-coloured throne 

To him that sits thereon, 

With saintly shout, and solemn jubilee, 

Where the bright seraphim in burning row 

Their loud uplifted angel-trumpets blow, 

And the cherubic host in thousand quires 

Touch their immortal harps of golden wires, 

With those just spirits that wear victorious palms, 

Hymns devout and holy psalms 

Singing everlastingly ; 

That we on earth with undiscording voice 

May rightly answer that melodious noise ; 

As once we did, till disproportioned sin 

Jarred against nature's chime, and with harsh din 

Broke the fair music that all creatures made 

To their great Lord, whose love their motion swayed 

In perfect diapason, whilst they stood 

In first obedience, and their state of good. 

Oh, may we soon again renew that song, 

And keep in tune with Heaven, till God ere long 

To his celestial consort us unite. 

To live with him, and sing in endless morn of light. 



VIII. 



AN EPITAPH ON THE MARCHIONESS OF 
WINCHESTER. 

This rich marble doth inter 

The honoured wife of Winchester, 

A viscount's daughter, an earl's heir 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 417 

Besides what her virtues fair 
Added to her noble birth, 
More than she could own from earth. 
Summers three times eight, save one, 
She had told ; alas ! too soon, 
After so short time of breath, 
To house with darkness, and with death 
Yet had the number of her days 
Been as complete as was her praise, 
Nature and fate had had no strife 
In giving limit to her life. 
Her high birth, and her graces sweet, 
Quickly found a lover meet ; 
The virgin quire for her request 
The god that sits at marriage feast ; 
He at their invoking came. 
But with a scarce well-lighted flame ; 
And in his garland as he stood 
Ye might discern a cypress bud. 
Once had the early matrons run 
To greet her of a lovely son. 
And now with second hope she goes, 
And calls Lucina to her throes ; 
But whether by mischance or blame 
Atropos for Lucina came, 
And with remorseless cruelty 
Spoiled at once both fruit and tree : 
The hapless babe before his birth 
Had burial, yet not laid in earth, 
And the languished mother's womb 
Was not long a living tomb. 
So have I seen some tender slip, 
Saved with care from winter's nip. 
The pride of her carnation train. 
Plucked up by some unheedy swain 
Who only thought to crop the flower 
New shot up from vernal shower ; 
But the fair blossom hangs the head 
Side-ways, as on a dying bed, 
And those pearls of dew she wears, 
27 



418 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

Prove to be presaging tears, 

Which the sad morn had let fall 

On her hastening funeral. 

Gentle lady, may thy grave 

Peace and quiet ever have ; 

After this, thy travel sore. 

Sweet rest seize thee evermore, 

That to give the world increase, 

Shortened hast thy own life's lease. 

Here, besides the son-owing 

That thy noble house doth bring, 

Here be teai's of perfect moan 

Wept for thee in Helicon, 

And some flowers, and some bays, 

For thy hearse, to strew the ways, 

Sent thee from the banks of Came, 

Devoted to thy virtuous name ; 

Whilst thou, bright saint, high sitt'st in glory, 

Next her ranch like to thee in story. 

That fair Syrian shepherdess, 

Who, after years of barrenness. 

The highly favoured Joseph bore 

To him that served for her before. 

And at her next birth, much like thee, 

Through pangs fled to felicity, 

Far within the bosom bright 

Of blazing Majesty and Light ; 

There with thee, new welcome saint, 

Like fortunes may her soul acquaint, 

With thee there clad in radiant sheen, 

No marchioness, but now a queen. 



IX. 
SONG ON MAY MORNING. 

Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, 
Comes dancing from the east, and leads with her 
The flowery May, who from her green lap throw* 
The yellow cowslip, and the pale primrose. 

Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire 
Mirth and youth and warm desire ; 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 419 



'S> 



Woods and groves are of thy dressing. 

Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing. 
Thus we salute thee with our early song, 
And welcome thee, and wish thee long. 



X. 

ON SHAKSPEARE, 1630. 

What needs my Shakspeare for his honoured bones 

The labour of an age in piled stones ? 

Or that his hallowed reliques should be hid 

Under a star-ypointing pyramid? 

Dear son of raemory, great air of fame. 

What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name ? 

Thou in our wonder and astonishment 

Hast built thyself a livelong monument. 

For whilst to the shame of flow-endeavouring art 

Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart 

Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book 

Those Delphic lines with deep impression took ; 

Then thou our fancy of itself bereaving. 

Dost make us marble with too much conceiving ; 

And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie. 

That kings, for such a tomb, would wish to die. 

XI. 

ON THE UNIVERSITY CARRIER, 

WHO SICKENED IN THE TIME OF HIS VACANCY, BEISa 
FOKBID TO GO TO LONDON, BY REASON OF THE PLAGUK. 

Here lies old Hobson ; Death hath broke his girt, 
And here, alas ! hath laid him in the dirt ; 
Or else the ways being foul, twenty to one. 
He's here stuck in a slough, and overtlirown. 
'Twas such a shifter, that if truth were known. 
Death was half glad when he had got him down ; 
For he had, any time this ten years full. 
Dodged with him betwixt Cambridge and the Bull. 



420 POEMS ON 8EVE71AL OCCASIONS. 

And surely Death could never have prevailed, 

Had not his weekly course of caniage failed ; 

But lately finding him so long at home, 

And thinking now his journey's end was come, 

And that he had ta'en up his latest inn, 

In the kind office of a chamberlin 

Showed him his room where he must lodge that night, 

Pulled off his boots, and took away the light ; 

If any ask for him, it shall be said, 

Hobson has supped, and 's newly gone to bed. 



XII. 
ANOTHER ON THE SAME. 

Heee lieth one, who did most truly prove 
That he could never die while he could move ; 
So hung his destiny, never to rot 
While he might still jog on and keep his trot ; 
Made of sphere-metal, never to decay 
Until his revolution was at stay. 
Time numbers motion, yet (without a crime 
Gainst old truth) motion numbered out his time: 
And like an engine moved with wheel and weight, 
His principles being ceased, he ended straight. 
Rest that gives all men life, gave him his death, 
And too much breathing put him out of breath ; 
Nor were it contradiction to affirm 
Too long vacation hastened on his term. 
Merely to drive the time away he sickened. 
Fainted, and died, nor would with ale be quickened ; 
" Nay," quoth he, on his swooning bed out-stretched ; 
" If 1 mayn't carry, sure I'll ne'er be fetched. 
But vow, though the cross doctors all stood hearers, 
For one carrier put down to make six bearers." 
Ease was his chief disease, and to judge right, 
He died for heaviness that his cart went light : 
His leisure told him that his time was come. 
And lack of load made his life burdensome, 
That even to his last breath (there be that say't) 
As he were pressed to death, he cried " More weight ; *' 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 421 

But had his doings lasted as they were, 

He had been an immortal carrier. 

Obedient to the moon he spent his date 

In course reciprocal, and had his fate 

Linked to the mutual flowing of the seas, 

Yet (strange to think) his wain was his increase ; 

His letters are delivered all and gone, 

Only remains this superscription. 

XIII. 
L'ALLEGRO. 

Hence loathed Melancholy, 

Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight bom, 
In Stygian cave forlorn, 

'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy 
Find out some uncouth cell, 

Where brooding darkness spreads his jealous wirgs. 
And the night raven sings ; 

There under ebon shades, and low-browed rocks, 
As ragged as thy locks, 

In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. 
But come thou goddess fair and free, 
In Heaven ycleped Euphrosyne, 
And by men, heart-easing Mirlfti, 
Whom lovely Venus at a birth 
With two sister graces more 
To ivy -crowned Bacchus bore 
Or whether (as some sages sing) 
The frolic wind that breathes the spring, 
Zephyr with Aurora playing. 
As he met her once a maying. 
There on beds of violets blue. 
And fresh-blown roses washed in dew, 
Filled her with thee a daughter fair. 
So buxom, blithe, and debonair. 
Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee 
Jest and youthful jollity. 
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. 
Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, 

^ ^/ ■ -■ 



422 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS 

Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, 
And love to live in dimple sleek ; 
Sport that wrinkled care derides, 
"^ And laughter holding both his sides. 
Come, and trip it as you go 
On the light fantastic toe, 
And in thy right hand lead with thee, 
'^yv'^^h.e mountain nymph, sweet Liberty; 
And if I give thee honour due, 
Mirth, admit me of thy crew, 
To live with her, and live with thee, 
In unreproved pleasures free ; 
To hear the lark begin his flight, 
And singing startle the dull night, 
From his watch-tower in the skies, 
Till the dappled dawn doth rise ; 
Then to come in spite of sorrow, 
And at my window bid good-morrow 
Through the sweet-briar, or the vine, 
Or the twisted eglantine : 
While the cock with lively din 
Scatters the rear of darkness thin. 
And to the stack, or the barn-door. 
Stoutly struts his dames before : 
Oft listening how the hounds and hort 
Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn, 
From the side of some hoar hill. 
Through the high wood echoing shrill 
Some time walking not unseen 
By hedge-row elms, on hillocks green, 
Right against the eastern gate. 
Where the great sun begins his state, 
Robed in flames and amber light. 
The clouds in thousand liveries digh 
While the ploughman near at hand 
Whistles o'er the furrowed land, 
And the milkmaid singeth bUthe, 
And the mower whets his scythe. 
And every shepherd tells his tale 
Under the hawthorn in the dale. 



POEMS ON SKVKRAL OCCASIONS. 423 

Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures 

Whilst the landskip round it measures, 

Russet lawns, and fallows gray, 

Where the nibbling flocks do stray, 

Mountains on whose barren breast 

The labouring clouds do often rest. 

Meadows trim with daises pied, 

Shallow brooks, and rivers wide. 

Towers and battlements it sees 

Bosomed high in tufted trees. 

Where perhaps some beauty lies, 

The Cynosure of neighbouring eyes. 

Hard by, a cottage chimney smokes. 

From betwixt two aged oaks. 

Where Corydon and Thyrsis met, 

Are at their savoury dinner set 

Of herbs, and other country messes, 

Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses ; 

And then in haste her bower she leaves 

With Thestylis to bind the sheaves ; 

Or if the earlier season lead 

To the tanned haycock in the mead. 

Sometimes with secure delight 

The upland hamlets will invite, 

When the merry bells ring round, 

And the jocund rebecks sound 

To many a youth, and many a maid. 

Dancing in the chequered shade ; 

And young and old come forth to play 

On a sunshine holy-day. 

Till the livelong daylight fail ; 

Then to the spicy nut-brown ale. 

With stories told of many a feat, 

How fairy Mab the junkets eat. 

She was pinched, and pulled, she said, 

And he by friars' lanthorn led. 

Tells how the drudging goblin sweat, 

To earn his cream buwl duly set. 

When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, 

His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn. 



424 POEMS OjSt several occasions. 

That ten day-labourers could not end ; 

Then lies him down the lubbar fiend, 

And stretched out all the chimney's length, 

Basks at the fire his hairy strength, 

And crop-full out of doors he flings, 

Ere the first cock his matin rings. 

Thus done the tales, to bed they creep, 

By whispering winds sood lulled asleep. 

Towered cities please us then. 

And the busy hum of men, 

Where throngs of knights and barons bold 

In weeds of peace high triumphs hold. 

With store of ladies, whose bright eyes 

Rain influence, and judge the prize 

Of wit, or arms, while both contend 

To win her grace, whom all commend. 

There let Hymen oft appear 

In saffron robe, with taper clear. 

And pomp, and feast, and revelry, 

\^'i'h mask, and antique pageantry; 

Sucii sights as youthful poets dream 

On summer eves by haunted stream. 

Then to the well-trod stage anon. 

If Jonson's learned sock be on. 

Or sweetest Shakspeare, fancy's child, 

Warble his native wood-notes wild. 

And ever against eating cares, 

Lap me in soft Lydian airs, 

Married to immortal verse. 

Such as the meeting soul may pierce 

In notes, with many a winding bout 

Of linked sweetness long drawn out. 

With wanton heed, and giddy cunning,, 

The melting voice through mazes running 

Untwisting all the chains that tie. 

The hidden soul of harmony ; 

That Orpheus' self may heave his head 

From golden slumber on a bed 

Of heaped Elysian flowers, and hear 

Such strains as would have won the ear 



POEMS ON- SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 425 

Of Pluto, to have quite set free 
His half regained Eurydice. 
These delights, if thou canst give, 
Mirth, with thee I mean to live. 



XIV. 
IL PENSEROSO. 

Hbnce, vain deluding joys, 

The larood of folly without father bred I 
How little you bested, 

Or fill the fixed mind with all your toys 1 
Dwell in some idle brain, 

And fancies fond with gaudy shapes possess, 
As thick and numberless 

As the gay motes that people the sunbeams, 
Or likest hovering dreams, 

The fickle pensionersjjf Morpheus' train. 
But hail thou goddess, sage and holy, 
Hail, divinest Melancholy, 
Whose saintly visage is too bright 
To hit the sense of human sight, 
And therefore to our weaker view, 
O'erlaid with black, staid wisdom's hue ; 
Black, but such as in esteem 
Prince Memnon's sister might beseem. 
Or that starred Ethiop queen that strove 
To set her beauty's ]:)raise above 
The sea^nymphs, and their powers offended : 
Yet thou art higher far descended ; 
Thee, bright-haired Vesta long of yore 
To solitary Saturn bore ; 
His daughter she (in Saturn's reign, 
Such mixture was not held a stain). 
Oft in glimmering bowers and glades 
He met her, and in secret shades 
Of woody Ida's inmost grove. 
While yet there was no fear of Jove. 
Come, pensive nun, devout and pure. 
Sober, stedfast, and demure, 



426 POEM& ON SKVEKAL OCCASIONS. 

All in a robe of darkest grain, 

Flowing with majestic train, 

And sable stole of Cyprus lawn, 

Over thy decent shoulders drawn. 

Come, but keep thy wonted state, 

With even step, and musing gait. 

And looks commercing with the skies, 

Thy rapt soul sitting iu thine eyes : 

There, held in holy passion stiU, 

Forget thyself to marble, till 

With a sad leaden downward cast 

Thou fix them on the earth as fast : 

And join with thee calm Peace, and Quiet, 

Spare Fast, that oft with gods doth diet, 

And hears the Muses in a ring 

Aye round about Jove's altar sing; 

And add to these retired Leisure, 

That in trim gardens takes his pleasure ; 

But first, and chiefest, with thee bring 

Him that yon soars on golden wing. 

Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne. 

The cherub Contemplation ; 

And the mute Silence hist along, 

'Less Philomel will deign a song. 

In her sweetest, saddest plight, 

Smoothing tlie rugged brow of night. 

While Cynthia checks her dragon yoke, 

Gently o'er the accustomed oak ; 

Sweet bird that shunn'st the noise of folly, 

Most musical, most melancholy ! 

Thee, chantress, oft the woods among 

I woo to hear thy even-song ; 

And missing thee, I walk unseen 

On the dry smooth-shaven green. 

To behold the wandering moon. 

Riding near her highest noon, 

Like one that had been led astray 

Through the Heaven's wide pathless way, 

And oft, as if her head she bowed. 

Stooping through a fleecy cloud. 



POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 127 

Oft on a plat of rising ground, 

I hear the far-off curfew sound, 

Over some wide-watered shore. 

Swinging slow with sullen roar j &va,o^. •'-'!«'• ■ 

Or if the air will not permit, v^..->-^^-*-©-w , 

Some still removed place will fit. 

Where glowing embers through the room 

Teach light to counterfeit a gloom ; 

Far from all resort of mirth, 

Save the cricket on the hearth. 

Or the bellman's drowsy charm. 

To bless the doors from nightly harm : 

Or let my lamp at midnight hour, 

Be seen in some high lonely tower. 

Where I may oft outwatch the Bear, 

With thrice great Hermes, or unsphere 

The spirit of Plato to unfold 

What worlds, or w^hat vast regions hold 

The immortal mind that hath forsook 

Her mansion in this fleshly nook: 

And of those demons that are found 

In fire, air, flood, or under ground. 

Whose power hath a true consent 

With planet or with element. 

Sometime let gorgeous tragedy 

In sceptred pall come sweeping by, 

Presenting Thebes, or Pelops' line, 

Or the tale of Troy divine ; 

Or what (though rare) of later age 

Ennobled hath the buskined stage. 

But oh, sad virgin, that thy power 

Might raise Musceus from his bower! 

Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing 

Such notes as warbled to the string, 

Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek. 

And made Hell grant what love did seek. 

Or call up him that left half told 

The story of Cambuscan bold, 

Of Camball, and of Algarsife, 

And who had Canace to wife. 



428 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

That owned the virtuous ring and glass, 

And of the wondrous horse of brass, 

On which the Tartar king did ride ; 

And if aught else great bards beside 

In sage and solemn tunes have simg. 

Of turneys and of trophies hung, 

Of forests and enchantments drear, 

Where more is meant than meets the ear. 

Thus night oft see me in thy pale career, 

Till civil-suited morn appear, 

Not trickt and frounct as she was wont 

With the Attic boy to hunt, 

But kerchiefed in a comely cloud, 

While rocking winds are piping loud, 

Or ushered with a shower still, 

When the gust hath blown his fill. 

Ending on the rustling leaves. 

With minute droi>s from off the eaves. 

And when the sun begins to fling 

His flaring beams, me, goddess, bring 

To arch6d walks of twilight groves. 

And shadows brown, that Sylvan loves, 

Of pine, or monumental oak. 

Where the rude axe with heav6d stroke 

Was never heard the nymphs to daunt. 

Or fright them from their hallowed haunt. 

There in closed covert by some brook, 

Where no profaner eye may look. 

Hide me from day's garish eye, 

While the bee with honeyed thigh, 

That at her flowery work doth sing, 

And the waters murmuring. 

With such consort as they keep, 

Entice the dewy-feathered sleep ; 

And let some strange mysterious dream 

Wave at his wings in airy stream 

Of lively porti*aiture displayed. 

Softly on my eyelids laid. 

And as I wake, sAveet music breathe 

Above, about, or underneath. 



POEMS OS SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 429 

Sent by some spirit to mortals good, 

Or the unseen genius of the wood. 

But let my due feet never fail 

To walk the studious cloister's pale, 

And love the high embowed roof, 

With antic pillars massy proof, 

And storied windows richly dight, 

Casting a dim religious light. 

There let the pealing organ blow, 

To the full-voiced quire below. 

In service high, and anthems clear, 

As may with sweetness, through mine ear, 

Dissolve me into ecstasies. 

And bring all Heaven before my eyes. 

And may at last my weary age 

Find out the peaceful hermitage, 

The hairy gown and mossy cell, 

Where I may sit and rightly spell 

Of every star that Heaven doth shew, 

And every herb that sips the dew ; 

Till old experience do attain 

To something like prophetic strain. 

These pleasures. Melancholy, give, 

And I with thee will choose to live 



XV. 

ARCADES. 

[Part of an entertainment presented to the Countess Dowager of Derby, 
at Harefield, by some noble persons of her family, who appear on 
the scene in the pastoral habit, moving toward the seat of state, with 
this song.] 

Song I. 

Look, nymphs, and shepherds look, 
What sudden blaze of majesty 
Is that which we from hence descry, 
Too divine to be mistook : 

This, this is she 
To whom our views and wishes bend ; 
Here our solemn search hath end. 



480 POKMS ON SEVEKAL OCCASTOXS. 

Fame, that her high worth to raise, 
Seemed erst so lavish and profuse, 
We may justly now accuse 
Of detraction from her praise ; 

Less than half we find expressed, 

Envy bid conceal the rest. 

Mark what radiant state she spreads, 
In circle roiand her shining throne, 
Shooting her beams like silver threads ; 
This, this is she alone, 

Sitting like a goddess bright, 

In the centre of her light. 

Might she the wise Latona be. 
Or the towered Cybele, 
Mother of a hundred gods ? 
Juno dares not give her odds; 

Who had thought this clime had held 

A deity so unparalled ? 

[As they come forward, the Genius of the wood appears, and tnrnini 
towards them, speaks.] 

GENIUS. 

Stay, gentle swains, for though in this disguise, 

I see bright honour sparkle through your eyes ; 

Of famous Arcady ye are, and sprung 

Of that renowned flood, so often sung, 

Divine Alpheus, who by secret sluice 

Stole under seas to meet his Arethuse ; 

And ye, the breathing roses of the wood, 

Fair silver-buskined nymphs as great and good, 

I know this qiiest of yours, and free intent, 

Was all in honour and devotion meant 

To the gi-eat mistress of yon princely shrine, 

Whom with low reverence I adore as mine, 

And with all helpful service will comply 

To further this night's glad solemnity ; 

And lead ye where ye may more near behold 

What shallow-searching fame hath left untold ; 

Which I full oft amidst these shades alone 

Have sat to wonder at, and gaze upon : 



P0BM8 ON SEYERAL OCCASIONS. 43] 

For know by lot from Jove I am the power 

Of this fair wood, and live in oaken bower, 

To nurse the saplings tall, and curl tlie grove 

With ringlets quaint, and wanton windings wove. 

And all my plants I save from nightly ill 

Of noisome winds, and blasting vapours chill; 

And from the boughs brush off the evil dew, 

And heal the harms of thwarting thunder blue, 

Or what the cross dire-looking planet smites, 

Or hurtful worm with cankered venom bites. 

When evening gray doth rise, I fetch my round 

Over the mount, and all this hallowed ground, 

And early, ere the odorous breath of morn 

Awakes the slumbering leaves, or tasselled horn 

Shakes the higli thicket, haste I all about. 

Number my ranks, and visit every sprout 

With puissant words, and murmurs made to bless j 

But else in deep of night, when drowsiness 

Hath locked up mortal sense, then listen I 

To the celestial sirens' harmony, 

That sit upon the nine enfolded spheres, 

And sing to those that hold the vital shears. 

And turn the adamantine spindle round, 

On which the fate of gods and men is wound. 

Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie. 

To lull the daughters of Necessity, 

And keep unsteady Nature to her law. 

And the low world in measured motion draw 

After the heavenly tune, which none can hear 

Of human mould with gross unpurgcd ear ; 

And yet such music worthiest were to blaze 

The peerless height of her immortal praise, 

Whose lustre leads us, and for her most fit, 

If my inferior hand or voice could hit 

Inimitable sounds ; yet as we go, 

Whatever the skill of lesser gods can show, 

I will assay, her worth to celebrate, 

And so attend ye toward her glittering state; 

Where ye may all, that are of noble stem, 

Approach, and kiss her sacred vesture's hem. 



482 P0KM8 ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

Song II. 

O'er the smootli enamelled green, 
Where no print of step hath been, 

Follow me, as I sing, 

And touch the warbled string, 
Under the shady roof 
Of branching elm star-proof. 

Follow me, 
I will bring you where she sits, 
Clad in splendour as befits 

Her deity. 
Such a rural queen 
All Arcadia hath not seen. 

Song III. 

Nymphs and shepherds dance no more 

By sandy Ladon's lilied banks. 
On old Lycaeus or Cyllene hoar 

Trip no more in twilight ranks, 
Though Erymanth your loss deplore, 

A better soil shall give ye thanks. 
From the stony Maenalus 
Bring your flocks, and live with us ; 
Here ye shall have greater grace, 
To serve the lady of this place ; 
Though Syrinx your Pan's mistress were, 
Fet Syrinx well might wait on her. 
Such a rural queen 
All Arcadia hath not seen. 



XVI. 

CotniiB. 

A MASK, PRESENTED AT LTJBLOW CASTLE, 1634, BEFORB 
THE EARL OF BRIDGEWATER, THEN PRESIDENT OF 
WALES. 



The Mask was presented in 1634, and consequently in the twenty-sixth 
year of our author's age. In the title-page of the first edition, printed 
In 1(537, it is said that it was presented on Michaelmas night, and there 
was this motto : — 

" Eheu quid volui misero mihi ! floribns austrum 
1 erditus." 

In this edition, and in that of Milton's poems in 1646, there was pre- 
fixed to the Mask the following dedication : — 

To THE RifiHT HONOUKABLE LORD JoHN ViSCOUNT BRACKLT, SON AND 

Heir Apparent to the Earl of Brtdoewater, &c. 

My Lord, — This poem, which received its first occa- 
sion of birth from yourself and others of your noble 
family, and much honour from your own person in the 
performance, now returas again to make a final dedicar 
tion of itself to you. Although not openly acknowledged 
by the author, yet it is a legitimate offspring, so lovely, 
and so much desired, that the often copying of it hath 
tired my pen to give my several friends satisfaction, and 
brought me to a necessity of producing it to the public 
view ; and now to offer it up in all rightful devotion to 
those fair hopes, and rare endowments of your much prom- 
ising youth, which give a full assurance, to all that know 
you, of a future excellence. Live, sweet lord, to be the 
honour of your name, and receive this as your own, from 

28 («3) 



434 coMTjs. 

the hands of him, who hath by many favours been long 
obliged to your most honoured parents, and as in this 
representation your attendant Thyrsis, so now in all real 
expression 

Tour faithful and most 

humble servant, 

H. Lawes. 

rin the edition of 1646 was also prefixed ''Ir Henry Wotton's letter to the 
•vuior upon the following poem ^ 



THE PERSONS. 

The Attendant Spirit, afterwards 

in the habit of Thyrsis. 
CoMUS, icith his crew. 
The Lady. 
First Brother. 
Second Brother. 
Sabrina, the Nymph. 

The Chief Persons who presented were-^ 

The Lord Brackly. 

Mr. Thomas Egerton, his brother. 

The Lady Alice Egerton. 



^he flnt scene diBcovere a wild wood. The Attendant Spirit desoeiuli 

or enters.] 

ATTENDANT SPIRIT. 

Before the starry threshold of Jove's court 

My mansion is, where those immortal shapes 

Of bright aerial spirits live insphered 

In regions mild of calm and serene air, 

Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot, 

Which men call Earth ; and with low-thoughted care 

Confined, and pestered in this pinfold here, 



coMus. 430 

Strive to keep up a frail and feverish being, 
Unmindful of the crown that virtue gives, 
After this mortal change to her true servants, 
Amongst the enthroned gods on sainted seats. 
Yet some there be, that by due steps aspire 
To lay their just hands on that golden key, 
That opes the palace of eternity : 
To such my errand is ; and but for such, 
I would not soil these pure ambrosial weeds 
With the rank vapours of this sin-worn mould. 

But to my task. Neptune, besides the sway 
Of every salt flood, and each ebbing stream, 
Took in by lot 'twixt high and nether Jove 
Imperial rule of all the sea-girt isles, 
That, like to rich and various gems, inlay 
The unadorned bosom of the deep : 
Which he, to grace his tributary gods, 
By course commits to several government. 
And gives them leave to wear their sapphire crowMs 
And Avield their little tridents ; but this isle, 
The greatest and the best of all the main. 
Pie quarters to his blue-haired deities ; 
And all this tract that fronts the falling sun 
A noble peer of mickle trust and power 
Has in his charge, with tempered awe to guide 
An old and haughty nation, proud in arms : 
Where his fair offspring nursed in princely lore, 
Are coming to attend their father's state. 
And new-entrusted sceptre ; but their way 
Lies through the p6rplexed paths of this drear wood, 
The nodding horror of whose shady brows 
Threats the forlorn and wandering passenger ; 
And here their tender age might suffer peril. 
But that by quick command from sovran Jove 
I was despatched for their defence and guard : 
And listen why; for I will tell you now 
What never yet was heard in tale or song, 
From old or modern bard, in hall or bower. 

Bacchus, that first from out the purple grape 
Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine, 



436 coMus. 

After the Tuscan mariners transformed, 

Coasting the Tyrrhene shore, as the winds listed, 

On Circe's island fell (who knows not Circe, 

The daughter of the sun, whose charmed cup 

Whoever tasted lost his upright shape, 

And downward fell into a grovelling swine ?) : 

This nymph, that gazed upon his clustering locks 

With ivy berries wreathed, and his blithe youth, 

Had by him, ere he parted thence, a son 

Much like his father, but his mother more. 

Whom therefere she brought up, and Comus named ; 

Who, ripe and frolic of his full-grown age. 

Roving the Celtic and Iberian fields. 

At last betakes him to this ominous wood ; 

And, in thick shelter of black shades embowered, 

Excels his mother at her mighty art. 

Offering to every weary traveller 

His orient liquor in a crystal glass. 

To quench the drouth of Phoebus ; which, as they taste 

(For most do taste through fond intemperate thirst). 

Soon as the potion works, their human countenance, 

The express resemblance of the gods, is changed 

Into some brutish form of wolf, or bear. 

Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded goat, 

All other parts remaining as they wei-e ; 

And they, so perfect is their misery. 

Not once perceive their foul disfigurement. 

But boast themselves more comely than before ; 

And all their friends and native home forget. 

To roll with pleasure in a sensual sty. 

Therefore when any, favoured of liigh Jove, 

Chances to pass through this adventurous glade, 

Swift as the sparkle of a glancing star 

I shoot from Heaven, to give him safe convoy, 

As now I do ; but first I must put off 

These my sky robes spun out of Iris' woof, 

And take the weeds and likeness of a swain. 

That to the service of this house belongs, 

Who, with his soft pipe and smooth-dittied song. 

Well knows to still the wild winds when they roar. 



C0MU8. *37 

And hush the waving woods ; nor of less faith, 
And in this office of his mountain watch, 
Likeliest, and nearest to the present aid 
Of this occasion. But I hear tlie tread 
Of hateful steps ! I must be viewless now. 

OOMue enters with a charming rod in one hand, his glass in the other: 
with him a rout of nionglers, neuded like sundry sorts of wild beasts, bul 
otherwise like men and women, their apparul glistering : they .*ome In 
' ' ig a riotous and unruly uoise, with their torches in tneir bands.] 



COMU8. 

The star that bids the shepherd fold, 
Now the toj) of Heaven doth hold ; 
And the gilded car of day 
His glowing axle iloth allay 
In the steep Atlantic stream ; 
And the slope sun his upward beam 
Shoots against the dusky pole, 
Pacing toward the other goal 
Of his chamber in the east. 
Meanwhile welcome joy and feast, 
Midnight shout and revelry. 
Tipsy dance and jollity. 
Braid your locks with rosy twine, 
Dropping odours, dropping wine. 
Rigour now is gone to bed, 
And advice with scrupulous head. 
Strict age, and sour severity, 
With their grave saws in slumber lie. 
We, that are of purer fire, 
Imitate the starry quire ; 
Who, in their nightly watchful spheres, 
Lead in swift round the months and years. 
The sounds and seas, with all their finny drove, 
Now to the moon in wavering morrice move ; 
And, on the tawny sands and shelves. 
Trip the pert fairies and the daj)per elves. 
By dimpled brook, and fountain brim, 
The wood-nymphs, decked with daisies trim. 
Their merry wakes and jtastimes keep ; 
What hath night to do with sleep ? 
Night hath better sweets to prove. 



438 C0MU8. 

Venus now wakes, and wakens Love. 

Come, let us our rites begin ; 

'Tis only daylight that makes sin, 

Which these dun shades will ne'er report. 

Hail, goddess of nocturnal sport. 

Dark-veiled Cotytto ! to whom the secret fiarae 

Of midnight torches burns ; mysterious dame, 

That ne'er art called, but when the dragon womb 

Of Stygian darkness spets her thickest gloom, 

And makes one blot of all the air ; 

Stay thy cloudy ebon chair. 

Wherein thou rid'st with Hecat, and befriend 

Us thy vowed j)riests, till utmost end 

Of all thy dues be done, and none left out; 

Ere the blabbing eastern scout. 

The nice morn, on the Indian steep 

From her cabined loophole peep, 

And to the tell-tale sun descry 

Our concealed solemnity. 

Come, knit hands, and beat the ground, 

In a light fantastic round. 

The Measure. 
Break off, break off, I feel the different pace 
Of some chaste footing near about this ground. 
Run to your shrouds, within these brakes and trees ; 
Our number may affright : some virgin sure 
(For so I can distinguish by mine art) 
Benighted in these woods. Now to my charms, 
And to my wily trains : I shall, ere long. 
Be well stocked with as fair a herd as grazed 
About ray mother Circe. Thus I hurl 
My dazzling spells into the spongy air. 
Of power to cheat the eye with blear illusion, 
And give it false presentments, lest the place 
And my quaint habits breed astonishment, 
And put the damsel to suspicious flight. 
Which must not be, for that's against my course ; 
I, under fair pretence of friendly ends. 
And well-placed words of glozing courtesy, 
Baited with reasons not unplausible, 



C0MU6. 489 

Wind me into the easy-bearted man, 

And hug liim into snares. "When once her eye 

Hath met the virtue of this magic dust, 

I shall appear some liarmless villager, 

Whom thrift keeps up about his country gear. 

But liere she conies ; I fairly step aside. 

And hearken, if I may, her business here. 

[The Lady enters.] 
LADV. 

This way the noise was, if mine ear be true. 
My best guide now : methought it was the sound 
Of riot and ill-managed merriment, 
Such as the jociind flute, or gamesome pipe, 
Stirs up among the loose unlettered hinds, 
W^hen, for their teeming flocks, and granges full, 
In wanton dance they praise the bounteous Pan, 
And thank the gods amiss, I should be loth 
To meet the rudeness and swilled insolence 
Of such late wassailers ; yet oh ! where else 
Shall I inform my unacquainted feet 
In the blind mazes of this tangled wood ? 
My brothers, when they saw me wearied out 
With this long way, resolving here to lodge 
Under the spreading favour of these ])ines, 
Stej)ped, as they said, to the next thicket side, 
To bring me berries, or such cooling fruit 
As the kind hospitable woods provide. 
They left me then, when the gi*ay-hooded even. 
Like a sad votarist in palmer's weed. 
Rose from the hindmost wheels of Phoebus' wain. 
But where they are, and why they came not back, 
Is now the labour of my thoughts; 'tis likeliest 
They had engaged their wandering steps too far. 
And envious darkness, ere they could return, 
Had stole them from me ; else, O thievish night ! 
Why shouldst thou, but for some felonious end. 
In thy dark lanthorn thus close up the stars. 
That nature hung in Heaven, and filled their lamps 
With everlasting oil, to give due light 
To the misled and lonely traveller? 



140 C0MU8. 

This is the place, as well as I may guess, 

Whence even now the tumult of loud mirth 

Was rife, and perfect in my listening ear ; 

Yet nought but single darkness do I find. 

What might this be ? A thousand fantasies 

Begin to throng into my memory. 

Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire, 

And airy tongues, that syllable men's names 

On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses. 

These thoughts may startle well, but not astound. 

The virtuous mind, that ever walks attended 

By a strong siding champion, conscience. 

Oh, welcome, pure-eyed faith, white-handed hope, 

Thou hovering angel girt with golden wings. 

And thou unblemished form of chastity ! 

I see ye visibly, and now believe 

That he, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill 

Are but as slavish officers of vengeance. 

Would send a glistering guardian, if need were, 

To keep my life and honour uuassailed. 

Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud 

Turn forth her silver lining on the night ? 

I did not err, there does a sable cloud 

Turn forth her silver lining on the night, 

And casts a gleam over tliis tufted grove : 

I cannot halloo to my brothers, but 

Such noise as I can make to be heard farthest 

I'll venture, for ray new enlivened spirits 

Prompt me ; and they perhaps are not far off. 

Song. 
Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen 

Within thy airy shell. 

By slow Meander's margent green, 
And in the violet-embroidered vale, 

Where the love-lorn nightingale 
Nightly to thee her sad song raourneth well ; 
Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair 

That likest thy Narcissus are ? 
Oh! if thou have 

Hid them in some flowery cave. 



COMUS. 441 

Tell me but whore, 
Sweet qiu?en of parley, daughter of the sphere, 
So mayst thou be translated to the skies, 
And give resounding grace to all Heaven's harmonies. 

C0MU8. 

Can any mortal mixture of earth's mould 
Breathe such divine enchanting ravishment ? 
Sure something holy lodges in that breast, 
And with these raptures moves the vocal air 
To testify his hidden residence : 
How sweetly did they float upon the wings 
Of silence, through the empty-vaulted night, 
At every fall smoothing the raven down 
Of darkness till it smiled ! I have oft heard 
My mother Circe with the Sirens three, 
Amidst the flowery-kirtled Naiades 
Culling their potent heriis and baleful drugs, 
Who, as they sung, would take the prisoned soul 
And laj) it in Elysium : Scylla we])t, 
And chid her barking waves into attention. 
And fell Charybdis murmured soft a]»plause; 
Yet they in pleasing slumber lulled the sense, 
And in sweet madness robbed it of itself ; 
But such a sacred and home-felt delight. 
Such sober certainty of waking bliss, 
I never heard till now. I'll speak to her. 
And she shall be my queen. Hail, foreign wonder. 
Whom certain these rough shades did never breed. 
Unless the goddess that in rural shrine 
Dwell'st here with Pan, or Sylvan ; by blest song 
Forbidding every bleak unkindly fog 
To touch the prosperous growth of this tall wood. 

LADY. 

Nay, gentle shepherd, ill is lost that praise 
That is addressed to unattending ears ; 
Not any boast of skill, but extreme shift 
How to regain my severed company. 
Compelled me to awake the courteous Echo 
To give me answer from her mossy couch 



442 coMUB. 

COMUS. 

What chance, good lady, hath bereft you thus ? 

LADY. 

Dim darkness, and this leafy labyrinth. 

COMUS. 

Could that divide you from near-ushering guides . 

LADY. 

They left me weary on a grassy turf. 

COMUS. 

By falsehood, or discourtesy, or why ? 

LADY. 

To seek i' the valley some cool, friendly spring. 

COMUS. 

And left your fair side all unguarded, lady ? 

LADY. 

They were but twain, and purposed quick return 

COMUS. 

Perhaps forestalling night prevented them. 

LADY. 

How easy my misfortune is to hit ! 

COMUS. 

Imports their loss, beside the present need ? 

LADY. 

No less than if I should my brothers lose. 

COMUS. 

Were they of manly prime, or youthful bloom ? 

LADY 

As smooth as Hebe's their unrazored lips. 

COMUS, 

Two such I saw, what time the laboured ox 
In his loose traces from the fixrrow came. 
And the swinkt hedger at his supper sat ; 
I saw them under a green mantling vine 
That crawls along the side of yon small hill. 
Plucking ripe clusters from the tender shoots ; 
Their port was more than human, as they stood ; 
T took it for a fairy vision 
Of some gay creatures of the element. 
That in the colours of the rainbow live, 
And play i' the plighted clouds. I was awe-struck, 



coMus. 443 

And, as I passed, I worshipped ; if those you seek. 
It were a journey like the path to Heaven, 
To help you find them. 

LADY. 

Gentle yillager, 
What readiest way would bring me to that place * 

COMUS. 

Due west it rises from this shrubby point. 

LADY. 

To find out that, good shepherd, I suppose, 
In such a scant allowance of star-light. 
Would overtask the best Iand-]>ilot'8 art, 
Without the sure guess of well practised feet. 

COMUS. 

I know each lane, and every alley green, 
Dingle, or bushy dell of this wild wood, 
And every bosky bourn from side to side, 
My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood ; 
And if your stray attendants be yet lodged. 
Or shroud within these limits, I shall know 
Ere morrow wake, or the low-roosted lark 
From her thatched pallet rouse : if otherwise, 
I can conduct you, lady, to a low 
But loyal cottage, where you may be safe 
Till further quest. 

LADY. 

Shejiherd, I take thy word, 
And trust thy honest-offered courtesy. 
Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds 
With smoky rafters, than in tap'stry halls 
And courts of princes, where it first was named. 
And yet is most pretended : in a place 
Less warranted than this, or less secure, 
I cannot be, that I should fear to change it. 
Eye me, blest Providence, and square my trial 
To my proportioned strength ! Shepherd, lead on. 

[The two Beothebs.] 
KLDKR BROTHKR. 

Unmuffle, ye faint stars ; and thou fair moon, 
That wont'st to love the traveller's benlzon. 



444 oo.vtus. 

Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud, 

And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here 

In double night of darkness and of shades ; 

Or if your influence be quite dammed up 

With black usurping mists, some gentle taper, 

Though a rixsh-candle from the wicker hole 

Of some clay habitation, visit us 

With thy long levelled rule of streaming light. 

And thou shalt be our star of Arcady, 

Or Tyrian Cynosure. 

SECOND BROTHER. 

Or, if our eyes 
Be barred that happiness, might we but hear 
The folded flocks penned in their wattled cotes, 
Or sound of pastoral reed with oaten stops, 
Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock 
Count the night watches to his feathery dames, 
'Twould be some solace yet, some little cheering, 
In this close dungeon of innumerous boughs. 
But oh, that hapless virgin, our lost sister ! 
Where may she wander now? whither betake her 
From the chill dew, amongst rude burs and thistles ? 
Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now ; 
Or 'gainst the rugged bark of some broad elm 
Leans her unpillowed head, fraught with sad fears. 
What if in wild amazement and affright ? 
Or, while we s})eak, within the direful grasp 
Of savage hunger, or of savage heat ? 

ELDER BROTHER. 

Peace, brother ! be not over-exquisite 
To cast the fashion of uncertain evils ; 
For grant they be so, while they rest unknown. 
What need a man forestall his date of grief, 
And run to meet what he would most avoid ? 
Or if they be but false alarms of fear, 
How bitter is such self-delusion ! 
I do not think my sister so to seek, 
Or so unprincipled in virtue's book. 
And the sweet peace that goodness bosoms ever, 
As that the single want of light and noise 



COMU8. 445 

(Not being in clanger, a8 I trust she is not) 

Uould stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts, 

And put them into misbecoming jilight. 

Virtue could see to do what virtue would 

By her own radiant light, though sun and moon 

Were in the flat sea sunk. And wisdom's self 

Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude, 

Where, with her best nurse, contemplation, 

She plumes her feathers and lets grow her wings, 

That in the various bustle of resort 

Were all too ruffled, and sometimes impaired. 

lie that has light within his own clear breast 

May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day ; 

But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts, 

Benighted walks under the midday sun ; 

Himself is his own dungeon. 

SECOND BROTHEK. 

'Tis most true, 
That musing meditation most affects 
The pensive secresy of desert cell, 
Far from the cheerful haunt of men and herds, 
And sits as safe as in a senate-house; 
For who would rob a hermit of his weeds, 
Ilis few books, or his beads, or maple dish. 
Or do his gray hairs any violence ? 
But beauty, like the fair Hesi>erian tree 
Laden with blooming gold, hath need the guard 
Of dragon-watch with unenchanted eye. 
To save her blossoms, and defend her fruit 
From the rash hand of bold incontinence. 
You may as well spread out the unsunned heaps 
Of misers' treasure by an outlaw's den. 
And tell me it is safe, as bid me hope 
Danger will wink on opportunity, 
And let a single helpless maiden pass 
Uninjured in this wild surrounding waste. 
Of night, or loneliness, it recks me not ; 
I fear the dread events that dog them both. 
Lest some ill-greeting touch attempt the person 
Of our unowned sister. 



446 COMDS. 

ELDER BKOTHEB. 

I do not, brother, 
Infer, as if I thought my sister's state 
Secure without all doubt or controversy ; 
Fet, where an equal poise of hope and fear 
Does arbitrate the event, my nature is 
That I incline to hope rather than fear, 
And gladly banish squint suspicion. 
My sister is not so defenceless left 
As you imagine : she has hidden strength 
Which you remember not. 

SECOND BROTHER. 

What hidden strength. 
Unless the strength of Heaven, if yon mean that? 

ELDER BROTHER. 

I mean that too ; but yet a hidden strength. 
Which, if Heaven gave it, may be termed her own ; 
'Tis chastity, my brother, chastity : 
She that has that is clad in complete steel, 
And, like a quivered nymph with arrows keen, 
May trace huge forests, and unharboured heaths, 
Infamous hills, and sandy perilous wilds ; 
Where, through the sacred rays of chastity. 
No savage fierce, bandit, or mountaineer, 
Will dare to soil her virgin purity : 
Yea there, where very desolation dwells. 
By grots and caverns shagged with horrid shades, 
She may pass on with unblenched majesty, 
Be it not done in pride or in presumption. 
Some say no evil thing that walks by night, 
In fog or fire, by lake or moorish fen. 
Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost 
That breaks his magic chains at curfew time. 
No goblin, or swart fairy of the mine, 
Hath hurtful power o'er true virginity. 
Do ye believe me yet ? or shall I call 
Antiquity from the old schools of Greece 
To testify the arms of chastity ? 
Hence had the huntress Dian her dread bow, 



coMus. 447 

Fair silvcr-sliaf^ed queen, for ever chaste, 

Wherewith she taineil the brindcd lioness 

And sj lotted mountain pard, but set at nought 

Tlie frivoh)us bolt of Cuj)id ; gods and men 

Fear her stern frown, and queen o' the woods. 

What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield 

That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin, 

Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stonei 

But rigid looks of chaste austerity, 

And noble grace, that dashed brute violence 

With sudden adoration and blank awe? 

So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity, 

That when a soul is found sincerely so, 

A thousand liveried angels lackey her, 

Driving far off eacli thing of sin and guilt. 

And, in clear dream, and solemn vision. 

Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear; 

Till oft converse with heavenly habitants 

Begin to cast a beam on the outward shape, 

The unpolluted temple of the mind, 

And turns it by degrees to the soul's essence, 

Till all be made immortal ; but when lust. 

By unchaste looks, loose gestures, and foul talk, 

But most by lewd and lavish act of sin. 

Lets in defilement to the inward part, 

The soul grows clotted by contagion, 

Embodies, and embrutes, till she quite lose 

The divine property of her first being. 

Such are those thick and gloomy shadows damp 

Oft seen in charnel vaults and sepulchres 

Lingering, and sitting by a new-made grave, 

As loth to leave the body that it loved. 

And linked itself by carnal sensuality 

To a degenerate and degraded state. 

SECOND BROTHKE. 

How charming is divine philosophy ! 
Not harsh, and crabbed, as dull fools suppose. 
But musical as is Apollo's lute. 
And a perpetual feast of nectared sweets, 
Where no crude surfeit reigns. 



448 coMus. 

ELDER BROTHER. 

List, list ! I hear 
Some far ofE halloo break the silent air. 

SECOND BROTHER. 

Methought so too ; what should it be ? 

ELDER BROTHER. 

For certain 

Either some one like us night-foundered here, 
Or else some neighbour woodman, or, at worst, 
Some roving robber calling to his fellows. 

SECOND BROTHER. 

Heaven keep my sister ! Again, again, and near ; 
Best draw and stand upon our guard. 

ELDER BROTHER. 

I'll halloo ; 
If he be friendly, he comes well ; if not. 
Defence is a good cause, and Heaven be for us. 

[The Attendant Spirit habited like a Shepherd.] 
That halloo I should know ; what are you? Speak I 
Come not too near, you fall on iron stakes else. 

SPIRIT. 

What voice is that ? My young lord ? Speak again. 

SECOND BROTHER. 

Thyrsis ? whose artful strains have oft delayed 
The huddling brook to hear his madrigal. 
And sweetened every musk-rose of the dale. 
How cam'st thou here, good swain ? Hath any ram 
Slipped from the fold, or young kid lost his dam, 
Or straggling wether the pent flock forsook ? 
How couldst thou find this dark sequestered nook ? 

SPIRIT. 

O my loved master's heir, and his next joy 1 
I came not here on such a trivial toy 
As a strayed ewe, or to pursue the stealth 
Of pilfering wolf ; not all the fleecy wealth 
That doth "enrich these downs, is worth a thought 
To this my errand, and the care it brought. 
But oh, my virgin lady ! where is she ? 
How chance she is not in your company ? 



C0MU8. 449 

ELDER BROTHER. 

To tell thee sadly, shepherd, without biame, 
Or our neglect, we lost her as we came. 

SPIRIT. 

Ay me unhappy ' then my fears are true. 

ELDER BROTHER. 

What fears, good Thyrsis ? Prythee briefly shew. 

SPIRIT. 

I'll tell ye ; 'tis not vain or fabulous 
(Though so esteemed by shallow ignorance) 
What the sage poets, taught by the heavenly muse, 
Storied of old in high immortal verse, 
Of dire chimeras, and enchanted isles, 
And rifted rocks whose entrance leads to Hell ; 
For such there be ; but unbelief is blind. 

Within the navel, of this hideous wood. 
Immured in cypress shades, a sorcerer dwells, 
Of Bacchus and of Circe born, great Comus, 
Deep skilled in all his mother's witcheries ; 
And here to every thirsty wanderer. 
By sly enticement, gives his baneful cup. 
With many murmurs mixed, whose pleasing poison 
The visage quite transforms of him that drinks, 
And the inglorious likeness of a beast 
Fixes instead, unmoulding reason's mintage 
Charactered in the face ; this have I learnt 
Tending my flocks hard by i' the hilly crofts 
That brow this bottom glade ; whence night by night 
He and his monstrous rout are heard to howl 
Like stabled wolves, or tigers at their prey, 
Doing abhorred rites to Hecate 
In their obscured haunts of inmost bowers. 
Yet have they many baits, and guileful spells 
To inveigle aLd invite the unwary sense 
Of them that pass unweeting by the way. 
This evening late, by then the chewing flocks 
Had ta'en their supper on the savoury herb 
Of knot-grass dew-besprent, and were in fold, 
I sat me down to watch upon a bank 
With ivy canopied, and interwove 

29 



450 coMirs. 

With flaunting honeysuckle, and began, 
Wrapt in a pleasing fit of melancholy, 
To meditate my rural minstrelsy, 
Till fancy had her fill ; but, ere a close. 
The wonted roar was up amidst the woods, 
And filled the air with barbarous dissonance ; 
At which I ceased, and listened them a while, 
Till an unusual stop of sudden silence 
Gave respite to the drowsy-flighted steeds 
That draw the litter of close-curtained sleep ; 
At last a soft and solemn-breathing sound 
■Rose like a steam of rich distilled perfumes, 
And stole upon the air, that even Silence 
Was took ere she was ware, and wished she might 
Deny her nature, and be never more 
Still to be so displaced. I was all ear, 
And took in strains that might create a soul 
Undei the ribs of death : but oh, ere long, 
Too well I did perceive it was the voice 
Of my most honoured lady, your dear sister. 
Amazed I stood, harrowed with grief and fear, 
And oh, poor hapless nightingale, thought I, 
How sweet thou sing'st, how near the deadly snare I 
Then down the lawns I ran with headlong haste, 
Thi'ough paths and turnings often trod by day. 
Till, guided by mine ear, 1 found the place, 
Where that damned wizard, hid in sly disguise 
(For so by certain signs I knew), had met 
Already, ere my best speed could prevent, 
The aidless innocent lady, his wished prey, 
Who gently asked if he had seen such two, 
Supposing him some neighbour villager. 
Longer I dnrst not stay, but soon I guessed 
Ye were the two she meant ; with that I sprung 
Into swift flight, till I had found you here, 
But further know I not. 

SECOND BROTHER. 

O night and shades, 
How are ye joined with Hell in triple knot 
Against the unarmed weakness of one virgin 



coMus. 451 

Alone, and helpless ! Is this the confidence 
You gave me, brother ? 

KLDEK BROTHEB. 

Yes, and keep it stiU ; 
Lean on it safely ; not a period 
Shall be unsaid for me : against the threats 
Of malice, or of sorcery, or that power 
Which erring men call cliance, tliis I hold firm : 
V'irtue may be assailed, but never hurt. 
Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled; 
Yea even that which mischief meant most harm, 
Shall in the ha)i])y trial prove most glory : 
But evil on itself shall back recoil, 
And mix no more with goodness ; when at last, 
Gathered like scum, and settled to itself, 
It shall be in eternal restless change. 
Self-fed, and self-consumed : if this fail, 
The pillared firmament is rottenness, 
And earth's base built on stubble. But come, let's on. 
Against the op])osing will and arm of Heaven 
May never this just sword be lifted up ! 
But for that damned magician, let him be girt 
With all the grisly legions that troop 
Under the sooty flag of Acheron, 
Harpies and Hydras, or all the monstrous forms 
'Twixt Africa and Ind, I'll find him out. 
And force him to restore his purchase back, 
Or drag him by the curls to a foul death, 
Cved as his lifco 

SPIRIT. 

Alas! good venturous yonth, 
I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise ; 
But here thy sword can do thee little stead ; 
For other arms, and other wea])on8, must 
Be those that quell the might of hellish charms : 
He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints, 
And crumble all thy sinews. 

ELDER BROTHER. 

Why prythee, shepherd. 



452 C0MU8. 

How durst thou then thyself approach so near, 
As to make this relation ? 

SPIRIT, 

Care and utmost shifts 
How to secure the lady from surprisal, 
Brought to my mind a certain sheplierd lad, 
Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled 
In every virtuous plant and liealing herb 
That spreads her verdant leaf to the morning ray : 
He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing, 
Which when I did, he on the tender grass 
Would sit, and hearken even to ecstasy. 
And in requital ope his leathern scrip. 
And show me simples of a thousand names, 
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties : 
Amongst the rest a small unsightly root, 
But of divine effect, he culled me out ; 
The leaf was darkisli, and had prickles on it ; 
But in another country, as he said. 
Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this soil : 
Unknown, and like esteemed, and the dull swain 
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon ; 
And yet more med'cinal is it than that moly 
That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave ; 
He called it lijemony, and gave it me. 
And bade me keep it as of sovran use 
'Gainst all enchantments, mildew, blast, or damp, 
Or ghastly furies' apparition, 
I pursed it up, but little reckoning made. 
Till now that this extremity compelled : 
But now I find it true ; for by tliis means 
I knew the foul enclianter, though disguised, 
Entered the very lime-twigs of his spells. 
And yet came off : if you have this about you, 
(As I will give you when we go) you may 
Boldly assault the necromancer's hall ; 
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood. 
And brandished blade, rush on him ; break his glass, 
And shed the luscious liquor on the ground, 
But seize his wand ; though he and his cursed crew 



C0MU8. 453 

Fierce B\s^n of battle make, aud met ace high, 
Or like the sons of Vulcan vomit smoke, 
Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink. 

ELDER HKOTHER. 

Thyrsis, lead on apace, FU follow thee ; 
And some good angel bear a shield before us ! 

[Tlie scene changes to a stately palace, set out with all manner of tlellolou* 
ness ; soft nmsic, tables sprejid with all dainties. Coiirs appears wltL 
his rabble, and the L.vdy set in an enchanted chair, to whom ho offers hii 
glass, which she puts by, and goes about to rise.] 

COMUS. 

Nay, lady, sit ; if I but wave this wand, 
Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster, 
And you a statue, o;-, as Daphne was, 
Root-bound, that fled Apollo. 

LADY. 

Fool ! do not boast ; 
Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind 
With all thy charms, although this corporal rind 
Thou hast immanacled, while Heaven sees good. 

COMUS. 

Why are you vexed, lady? why do you frown? 
Here dwell no frowns, nor anger ; from these gates 
Sorrow flies far : see, here be all the pleasures 
That fancy can beget on youthful thoughts, 
When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns 
Brisk as the April buds in primrose-season. 
And first behold this cordial julej) here, 
That flames and dances in his crystal bounds, 
With spirit of balm and fragrant syrujts mixed. 
Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of Thone 
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena, 
Is of such power to stir up joy as this. 
To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst. 
Why should you be so cruel to yourself, 
And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent 
For gentle usage, and soft delicacy? 
But you invert the covenants of her trust, 
And harshly deal, like an ill borrower, 



464 coMus. 

With that which you received on other terms, 
Scorning the unexempt condition 
By which all mortal frailty must subsist, 
Refreshment after toil, ease after pain, 
That have been tired all day without repast, 
And timely rest have wanted ; but, fair virgin, 
This will restore all soon. 

LADT, 

'Twill not, false traitor 1 
'Twill not restore the truth and honesty 
Tliat thou hast banished from thy tongue with lies. 
Was this the cottage, and the safe abode, 
Thou told'st me of ? What grim asjiects are these, 
These uoflv-headed monsters ? Mercv <ruard me ! 
Hence with thy brewed enchantments, foul deceiver I 
Hast thou betrayed my credulous innocence 
With visored falsehood, and base forgery ? 
And wouldst thou seek again to traj) me here 
With liquorish baits fit to ensnare a brute ? 
Were it a draught for Juno when slie banquets, 
I would not taste thy treasonous offer ; none 
But such as are good men can give good things, 
And that which is not good, is not delicious 
To a well-governed and wise apjjetite. 

COMUS. 

Oh, foolishness of men ! that lend their ears 
To those budge doctors of the Stoic fur. 
And fetch their precepts from the Cynic tub. 
Praising the lean and sallow abstinence. 
Wherefore did Nature jiour her bounties forth 
With such a full and unwithdrawing hand. 
Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks. 
Thronging tlie seas with spawn innumerable, 
But all to please and sate the curious taste ? 
And set to work millions of spinning worms, 
That in their green shops weave tlie smooth-haired silk 
To deck her sons ; and, that no corner might 
Be vacant of her })]enty, in her own loins 
She hutclied the all-worshipped ore, and precious gems 
To store her children with : if all the world 



C0MU6. 45b 

ShouKl in a pet of teiaperance feed ou puls^, 

Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze, 

The All-giver would be untlianked, would be unpraised. 

Not half his riches known, and yet despised ; 

And we should serve him as a grudijing master, 

As a ])enuriou8 niggard of his wealth. 

And live like Nature's bastards, not her sons, 

^V^ho would be quite surcharged with her own weight, 

And strangled with her waste fertility ; 

The earth cumbered, and the winged air darked witL 

plumes, 
The herds would over-multitude their lords, 
The sea o'erfraught would swell, and the unsought dia- 
monds 
Would so emblaze the forehead of the deep, 
And so bestud with stars, that they below 
Would grow inured to light, ami come at last 
To gaze upon the sun with shameless brows. 
List, lady, be not coy, and be not cozened 
With that same vaunted name, virginity. 
Beauty is Nature's coin, must not be hoarded, 
But must be current ; and the good thereof 
Consists in mutual and partaken bliss, 
Unsavoury in the enjoyment of itself ; 
If you let slip time, like a neglected rose 
It withers on the stalk with languished head. 
Beauty is Nature's brag, and must be shown 
In courts, at feasts, and high solemnities, 
Where most may wonder at the workmanship ; 
It is for homely features to keep home. 
They had their name thence ; coarse complexions. 
And cheeks of sorry grain, will serve to ply 
The sampler, and to tease the housewife's wooL 
What need a vermeil-tinctured lip for that. 
Love-darting eyes, or tresses like the morn? 
There was another meaning in these gifts ; 
Think what, and ))e advised : you are but young yet. 

LADY. 

I had not thought to have unlocked my lips 
In this unhallowed air, but that this juggler 



456 coMtJS. 

Wouli think to charm my judgment, as mine eyes, 

Obtruding false rules prankt in reason's garb. 

I hate when vice can bolt her arguments, 

And virtue has no tongue to check her pride. 

Impostor, do not charge most innocent Nature, 

As if she would her children should be riotous 

With her abundance ; she, good cateress, 

Means her provision only to the good, 

That live according to her sober laws. 

And holy dictate of s})are temperance : 

If every just man, that now pines with want, 

Had but a moderate and beseeming share 

Of that which lewdly-])ampered luxury 

Now hea])s upon some few with vast excess, 

Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed 

In unsupertluous even proportion, 

And she no whit encumbered with her store ; 

And then the Giver would be better thanked, 

His praise due paid ; for swinish gluttony 

Ne'er looks to Heaven amidst his gorgeous feast, 

But with besotted base ingratitude 

Crams, and blasphemes his Feeder. Shall I go on ? 

Or have I said enough? To him that dares 

Arm his ])rofane tongue with contemptuous worda 

Against the sun-clad jtower of chastity. 

Fain would I something say, yet to what end ? 

Thou has not ear, nor soul, to apprehend 

The sublime notion, and high mystery. 

That must be uttered to unfold the sage 

And serious doctrine of virginity ; 

And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know 

More happiness than this thy present lot. 

Enjoy your dear wit, and gay rhetoric, 

That hath so well been laught her dazzling fence. 

Thou art not fit to hear thyself convinced ; 

Yet, should I try, the uncontrolled worth 

Of this pure cause would kindle my rapt spirits 

To such a flame of sacred vehemence. 

That dumb things would be moved to sympathize, 

And the brute earth would lend her neiwes, and shake, 



C0MU8 457 

Till all thy magic structures, reared so high, 
Were shattered into heaps o'er thy false head. 
COM us. 
She fables not : I feel that I do fear • 

Her words set off by some superior j)Ower ; 
And though not mortal, yet a cold Hhuddering dew 
Dips me all o'er, as when the wrath of Jove 
Speaks thunder, and the chains of Erebus, 
To sojne of Saturn's crew. I must dissemble, 
And try her yet more strongly. Come, no more ; 
This is mere moral babble, and direct 
Against the canon laws of our foundation ; 
I must not suffer this, yet 'tis but the lees 
And settlings of a melancholy blood : 
But this will cure all straight ; one sip of this 
"Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight 
Beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise, and taste. 

[The BK0THKR8 ru6h in with swords drawn, wrest his glass out of hi« hand, 
and break '.i agaiust the ground : his rout makes sign of resistance, bat 
are all driven in. The Attknda>'t Spirit comes in.] 

SPIRIT. 

What, have you let the false enchanter 'scape ? 
Oh ! ye mistook, ye should have snatched his wand, 
And bound him fast; without his rod reversed, 
And backward mutters of dissevering power, 
We cannot free the lady that sits here 
In stony fetters fixed, and motionless ; 
Yet stay, be not disturbed ; now I bethink me, 
Some other means I have which may be used, 
Which once of Melibceus old I learnt, 
The sootliest 8he])herd that e're jtiped on plains. 

There is a gentle nymph not far from hence, 
That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream, 
Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure ; 
Whilome she was the daughter of Locrine, 
That had the sceptre from his father Brute. 
She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit 
Of her enraged stejxlame (Tuendolen, 
Commended her fair innocence to the flood, 
That stayed her flight with his cross-flowing course. 



458 C0MU8. 

The water nymplis that in the bottom played, 
Held up their pearled wrists and took her in, 
Bearing her straight to aged Nereus' hall, 
Who, piteous of our woes, reared her lank head. 
And gave her to his daughters to embathe 
In nectared lavers strewed with asphodel, 
And through the porch and inlet of each sense 
Dropped in ambrosial oils till she revived, 
And underwent a quick immortal change. 
Made goddess of the river : still she retains 
Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve 
Visits the herds along the twilight meadows, 
Helping all urchin blasts, and ill-luck signs 
That the shrewd meddling elf delights to make, 
Which she with precious vialled liquors heals ; 
For which the shepherds at their festivals 
Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays, 
Ar.d throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream 
Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils. 
And, as the old swain said, she can unlock 
The clasping charm, and thaw the numbing spell, 
If she be right invoked in warbled song ; 
For maidenhood she loves, and will be swift 
To aid a virgin, such as was herself. 
In hard-besetting need : this will I try, 
And add the power of some adjuring verse. 
Song. 

Sabrina fair, 

Listen where thou art sitting 

Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave. 
In twisted braids of lilies knitting 

The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair ; 
Listen for dear honour's sake, 
Goddess of the silver lake, 
Listen, and save. 

Listen, and appear to us. 

In name of great Oceanus ; 

By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace, 

And Tethys' grave majestic pace, 

By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look, 



COMUB. 459 

And the Carpnthian wizard's hook, 
By scaly Triton's winding shell, 
And old soothsaying Glaiicus' spell, 
By Leucothea's lovely hands, 
And her son that rules the strands, 
By Thetis' tinsel-8li])j)ered feet, 
And the songs of sirens sweet, 
By dead Parthenope's dear tomb. 
And fair Ligea's golden comb, 
Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks, 
Sleeking her soft alluring locks ; 
By all the nymphs that nightly dance 
Upon thy streams with wily glance. 
Rise, rise, and heave thy rosy head 
From thy coral-})aven bod, 
And bridle in thy headlong wave. 
Till thou our summons answered have. 
Listen, and save. 

[Sabbhta riees, attended by water-nymphs, and Bingi.) 

By the rushy-fringed bank. 
Where grows tlie willow and the osier dank, 

My sliding chariot stays, 
Thick set with agate, and the azure sheen 
Of turkis blue, and emerald green. 
That in the channel strays ; 
Whilst from off the waters fleet 
Thus I set my printless feet 
O'er the cowslip's velvet head, 
That bends not as I tread ; 
Gentle swain, at thy request 
I am here. 

SPIRIT. 

Goddess dear. 
We implore thy powerful hand 
To undo the charmed band 
Of true virgin here distressed. 
Through tlie force, and through the wile, 
Of unblest enchanter vile. 



460 COMUB. 

SABKINA. 

Shepherd, 'tis my office best 
To help ensnared chastity : 
Brightest hidy, look on me ; 
Thus I sprinkle on thy breast 
Drops, that from ray fountain pure 
I have kept, of precious cure ; 
Thrice upon thy finger's tip, 
Thrice upon thy rubied lip ; 
Next this marble venomed seat, 
Smeared with gums of glutinous heat, 
I touch with chaste palms moist and cold : 
Now the spell hath lost his hold ; 
And I must haste, ere morning hour, 
To wait in Amphitrite's bower. 

[Sabbina descends, and the Lady rises out of her seat.] 
SPIRIT. 

Virgin, daughter of Locrine, 
Sprung of old Anchises' line. 
May thy brinmied waves for this 
Their full tribute never miss 
From a thousand petty rills, 
That tumble down the snowy hills : 
Summer drouth, or singed air. 
Never scorch thy tresses fair, 
Nor wet October's torrent flood 
Thy molten crystal fill with mud : 
May thy billows roll ashore 
The beryl, and the golden ore ; 
May thy lofty head be crowned 
With many a tower and terrace round, 
And here and there thy banks upon 
With groves of myrrh and cinnamon. 

Come, lady, while Heaven lends us grao«| 
Let us fly this cursed place, 
Lest the sorcerer us entice 
With some other new device. 
Not a waste or needless soimd 
Till we come to holier ground ; 



COMU8. 461 

I shall be your f:iithful guide 

Through tliis gloomy covert wiao ; 

And not ni:iny furlongs thence 

Is your father's residence, 

Where this night are met in state 

Many a friend to gratulate 

His wished presence ; and, beside. 

All the swains that near abide, 

With jigs and rural dance resort : 

We shall catch them at their sport ; 

And our sudden coming there 

Will double all their mirth and cheer. 

Come, let us haste, the stars grow high, 

But night sits monarch yet in the mid sky. 

[The Scene cbangee, presfinting Ludlow town and the President's caatle ; 
then come In country dancers ; after them the Attendant Spibit, wltL 
the two Brothers and the Lady.] 

Song. 

SPIRIT. 

Back, shepherds, back ! enough your play, 
Till next sunshine holiday : 
Here be, without duck or nod, 
Other trippings to be trod 
Of lighter toes, and such court guise 
As Mercury did first devise. 
With the mincing Dryades, 
On the lawns, and on the leas. 

[This second Song presents them to their Father and Mothsr.] 

Noble lord, and lady bright, 

I have brought ye new delight ; 

Here behold, so goodly grown. 

Three fair branches of your own ; 

Heaven hath timely tried their youth, 

Their faith, their patience, and their truth, 

And sent them here through hard assays 
With a crown of deathless praise, 

To triumjih in victorious dance 
O'er sensual folly and intemperance. 

[The dances ended, the Spirit epUoguiseB.] 



462 coMus. 

SPIRIT. 

To the ocean now I fly, 
And those happy climes that lie 
Where day never shuts his eye, 
Up in the broad fields of the sky : 
There I suck the liquid air 
All amidst the gardens fair 
Of Hesperus, and his daughters three. 
That sing about the golden tree : 
Along the crisped shades and bowers 
Revels the spruce and jocund Spring, 
The Graces, and the rosy-bosomed Hours, 
Thither all their bounties bring : 
There eternal Summer dwells, 
And west winds, Avith musky wing, 
About the cedarn alleys fling 
Nard and cassia's balmy smells. 
Iris there with humid bow 
Waters the odorous banks, that blow 
Flowers of more mingled hue 
Than her purfled scarf can shew, 
And drenches with Elysian dew 
(List, mortals, if your ears be true) 
Beds of hyacinth and roses. 
Where young Adonis oft reposes. 
Waxing well of his deep wound 
In slumber soft, and on the ground 
Sadly sits the Assyrian queen ; 
But far above, in spangled sheen, 
Celestial Cupid, her famed son, advanced, 
Holds his dear Psyche sweet entranced. 
After her wandering labours long, 
Till free consent the gods among 
Make her his eternal bride, 
And from her fair unspotted side 
Two blissful twins are to be bom, 
Youth and Joy ; so Jove hath sworn. 

But now my task is smoothly done ; 
I can fly, or I can run 
Quickly to the gi-een earth's end, 



coM^us. 468 

Where the bowed welkin slow doth bend. 
And from thence can soar as soon 
To the corners of the moon. 

Mortals, that would follow me, 
Love Virtue ; she alone is free : 
She can teach ye how to climb 
Higher than the sphery chime ; 
Or, if Vii'tue feeble were, 
Heaven itself would stoop to her. 



464 POEMS ON SEVBEAL OCCASIONS. 



XVXi. 

LYCIDAS. 

[In this moiiody the author bewails a learned frtend, Mr. Edward Kli g, who 
was unfortunately drowned in his passage from Chester on the Irish seal, 
1637, and by occasion foretells the ruin of our corrupted clergy, then In 
their height.] 

Yet once more, O ye laurels ! and once more 
Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere, 
I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude, 
And with forced fingers rude 
Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year. 
Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear. 
Compels me to disturb your season due ; 
For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime. 
Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer : 
Who would not sing for Lycidas ? He knew 
Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme. 
He must not float upon his watery bier 
UnAvept, and welter to the parching wind, 
Without the meed of some melodious tear. 

Begin then, sisters, of the sacred well, 
That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring ; 
Begin, and somewhat loudly sweep the string. 
Hence with denial vain, and coy excuse, 
So may some gentle muse 
With lucky words favour ray destined urn, 
And, as he passes, turn 
And bid fair peace be to my sable shroud : 
For we were nursed upon the self-same hill, 
Fed the same flock by fountain, shade, and rill. 

Together both, ere the high lawns appeared 



POKMS OX SEVKRAl, OCCASIONS. 465 

Under the opening eyelids of the i.iorn, 

We drove a field, and both together heard 

What time the gray fly winds lier sultry horn, 

Battening our flocks with the fresh dews of night, 

Oft till the star that rose, at evening, bright, 

Toward Heaven's descent had sloped his westering wheeL 

Mpanwhile the rural ditties were not mute, 

Tempered to the oaten flute ; 

Rough satyrs danced, and fauns with cloven heel 

From the glad sound would not be absent long, 

And old Damretas loved to hear our song. 

But oh, the heavy change, now thou art gone. 
Now thou art gone, and never must return ! 
Thee, shepherd, thee the woods, and desert caves 
With wild thyme and the gadding vine o'ergrown, 
And all their echoes mourn. 
The willows, and the hazel copses green. 
Shall now no more be seen. 
Fanning their joyous leaves to thy soft lays. 
As killing as the canker to the rose. 
Or taint^wonn to the weanling herds that graze, 
Or frost to flowers, that their gay wardrobe wear. 
When first the white-thorn blows; 
Such, Lycidas, thy loss to shepherds' ear. 

Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep 
Chased o'er the head of your loved Lycidas ? 
For neither were ye playing on the steep. 
Where your old bards, the famous Druids, lie ; 
Nor on the shaggy top of Mona high. 
Nor yet where Deva spreads her wizard stream : 
Ay me ! I fondly dream 

Had ye been there, for what could that have done ? 
What could the muse herself that Or]>heus bore, 
The muse herself for her enchanting son, 
Whom universal nature did lament, 
When by the rout that made the hideous roar, 
His gory visage down the stream was sent, 
Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore? 

Alas ! what boots it with incessant care 
To tend the homely slighted shejiherd's trade, 

30 



466 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

And strictly meditate the thankless muse? 

Were it not better done as others use, 

To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, 

Or with the tangles of Neaera's hair ? 

Fanxe is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise 

(That last infirmity of noble mind) 

To scorn delights, and live laborious days ; 

But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, 

And think to burst out into sudden blaze. 

Comes the blind fury with the abhorred shears. 

And slits the thin-spun life. " But not the praise," 

Phoebus replied, and touched my trembling ears ; 

" Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil, 

Nor in the glistering foil 

Set off to the world, nor in broad rumour lies, 

But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes. 

And perfect witness of all-judging Jove ; 

As he pronounces lastly on each deed. 

Of so much fame in Heaven expect thy meed.** 

O fountain Arethuse, and thou honoured flood, 
Smooth-sliding Mincius, crowned with vocal reeds, 
That strain I heard was of a higher mood : 
But now my oat proceeds, 
And listens to the herald of the sea 
That came in Nejitune's plea ; 
He asked the waves, and asked the felon winds, 
What hard mishap had doomed this gentle swain? 
And questioned every gust of rugged wings. 
That blows from off each beaked promontory : 
They knew not of his story. 
And sage Hippotades their answer brings. 
That not a blast was from his dungeon strayed, 
The air was calm, and on the level brine 
Sleek Panope with all her sisters played. 
It was that fatal and perfidious bark 
Uuilt in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark, 
That sunk so low that sacred head of thine. 

Next Camus, reverend sire, went footing slow, 
His mantle hairy, and his bonnet sedge. 
Inwrought with figures dim, and on the edge, 



POEMS ON SEVKRAL O^^CASIONS. 407 

Like to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe. 

" Ah ! who hath reft," quoth he, " my dearest pledge ? " 

' Last came, and hist did go, 

/ The pilot of the Galilean lake, 
Two massy keys he bore, of metals twain 
(The golden opes, the iron shuts amain), 
He shook his mitred locks, and stern bespake: 
** How well could I have spared for thee, young swain, 
Enow of such as for their bellies' sake 
Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold I 
Of other care they little reckoning make. 
Than how to sci'amble at the shearer's feast, 
.And shove away the worthy bidden guest; 

^' Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold 
A sheejvhook, or have learned aught else the least 
That to the faithful herdsman's art belongs ! 
What recks it them ? What need they ? They are sped j 
And when they list, their lean and flashy songs 
Grate on tlieir scrannel ])ipes of wretched straw; 

t- The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed. 
But swollen with wind, and the rank mist tliey draw, 
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread : 
Besides what tlie grim wolf with privy })aw 
Daily devours apace, and nothing said. 
But that two-handed engine at the door 
Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more." 

Return, Alpheus, the dread voice is past, 
That shnmk thy streams : return Sicilian muse, 
And call the vales, and bid them hither cast 

"^ Their bells and flowerets of a thousand hues. 
Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers use 
Of shades, and wantt)n winds, and gushing brooks, 
On whose fresh lap the swart star sparely looks, 
Throw hither all your quaint enamelled eyes. 
That on the green turf suck the honeyed showers, 
And pur|»le all the ground with vernal flowers. 
Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies, 
The tufted crow-toe, and pale jessamine, 
The wliite pink, and the pansy freaked with jet, 
Tlie glowing violet. 



468 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

The musk-rose, and the well-attired woodbine, 

With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, 

And every flower that sad embroidery wears : 

Bid amaranthus all his beauty shed, 

And daffodillies fill their cups with tears, 

To strow the laureate hearse where Lycid lies. 

For so to interpose a little ease, 

Let our frail thoughts dally with false surmise. 

Ay me ! whilst thee the shores and sounding seas 

Wash far away, where ere thy bones are hurled, 

Whether beyond the storni}^ Hebrides, 

Where thou, perhaps, under the whelming tide 

Visit'st the bottom of the monstrous world ; 

Or whether thou to our moist vows denied, 

Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old. 

Where the great vision of the guarded mount 

Looks toward Namancos and Bayona's hold ; 

Look homeward, angel now, and melt with ruth: 

And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth. 

Weep no more, woeful shepherds, weep no more, 
For Lycidas your sorrow is not dead. 
Sunk though he be beneath the watery floor ; 
So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, 
And yet anon re])airs his drooping head, 
And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore 
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky : 
So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high. 
Through the dear might of him that walked the waveti 
Where other groves and other streams along, 
With nectar pure his oozy locks he laves. 
And hears the unexpreasive nuptial song, 
In the blest kingdoms meek of joy and love. 
There entertain him all the saints above, 
In solemn troops, and sweet societies, 
That sing, and singing in their glory move, 
And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes. 
Now, Lycidas, the shepherds weep no more ; 
Henceforth thou art the genius of the shore. 
In thy large recompense, and shalt be good 
To all that wander in that perilous flood. 



P0BM6 ON SKVBltAL OCCASIONS. 469 

Thus sang the uncouth swain to the oaks and rills, 
While the still morn went out with sandals gray ; 
He touched the tender stojts of various quills, 
With eager thought warbling his Doric lay : 
And now the sun had stretched out all the hills, 
And now was dropped into the western bay ; 
At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue : 
To morrow to fresh woods, and pastures new. 



XVIII. 

THE FIFTH ODE OF HORACE, Lib . I. 

[ " Quia multa gracilis te puer in rosa," rendered almost word for word 
without rhyme, accordiug to the Latin measure, as near as the lan- 
guagewill permit.] 

What slender youth, bedewed with liquid odours. 
Courts thee on roses in some pleasant cave, 

Pyrrha ? For whom bind'st thou 

In wreaths thy golden hair. 
Plain in thy neatness ? Oh, how oft shall he 
On faith and changed gods complain, and seas 

Rough witli black winds and storms 

Unwonted shall admire ! 
Who now enjoys thee credulous, all gold ; 
Who always vacant, always amiable, 

Hopes thee, of Hatterhig gales 

Unmindful. Hapless they 
To whom thou untried seem'st fair. Me in my vowed 
Picture the sacred wall declares to have hang 

My dank and drop])ing weeds 

To the stern god of sea. 



AD PYRRHAM. ODE V. 

Horatias ezPyrrhs illecebris tanquam ^ naufragio enatayetat, eajcui 
amore irretitos, afflrmat esse miseros. 

Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa 
Perfusus liquidis urget odoribus, 
Grato, Fyrrha, sub antro ? 



470 POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 

Cui flavam religas comam 
Simplex munditiia ? heu quoties fidem 
Mutatosque decs flebit, et aspera 

Nigris £equora ventis 

Emirabitur insolens ! 
Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea, 
Qui semper vacuam semper amabilem 

Sperat, nescius aurae 

Fallacis. Miseri quibus 
Intentata nites. Me tubula sacer 
Votiva paries indicat uvida 

Suspendisse potenti 

Vestimenta maris Deo. 



XIX. 



ON THE NEW FORCERS OF CONSCIENCE UNI>ER 
THE LONG PARLIAMENT. 

Because you have thrown off your prelate lord, 
And w ith stiff vows renounced his liturgy, 
To seize the widowed whore Plurality 
From them whose sin ye envied, not abhorred. 

Dare ye for this adjure the civil sword 

To force our consciences that Christ set free. 
And ride us with a classic hierarchy 
Taught ye by mere A. S. and Rotherford ? 

Men whose life, learning, faith, and pure intent 
Would have been held in high esteem with Paul, 
Must now be named and printed heretics 

By shallow Edwards and Scotch what dVe call : 
But we do hope to find out all your tricks, 
Your plots and packing worse than those of Trent, 
That so the Parliament 

May, with their wholesome and preventive shears, 

Clip your phylacteries, though bank your ears, 

And succour our just fears, 

When they shall read this clearly in your charge. 

New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large. 



I. 

TO THE NIGHTINGALE. 

O Nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray 
Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still, 
Thou with fresh hope the lover's heart dost fill, 
While the jolly hours lead on propitious May. 

Thy liquid notes that close the eye of day, 
First heard before the shallow cuckoo's bill, 
Portend success in love ; oh, if Jove's will 
Have linked that amorous power to thy soft lay, 

Now timely sing, ere the rude bird of hate 

Foretell my hopeless doom in some grove nigh ; 
As thou from year to year hast sung too late 

For my relief, yet hadst no reason why: 

Whether the Muse, or Love, call thee his mate, 
Both them I serve, and of their train am I. 

II. 

Donna leggiadra 11 cui bel nome honora 
L' herbosa val di Rheno, e il nobil varco, 
Bene 6 colui d' ogni valore scarco 
Qual tuo spirto gentil non innaraora, 

Che dolcemente mostra si di fuora 
De sui atti soavi giamai parco, 
E i don', che son d'amor saette ed arco. 
La onde 1' alta tua virtu s' iufiora. 

(4m 



472 SONNETS. 

Quando tu vaga parli, o lieta cauti 
Che mover possa duro alpestre legno, 
Guardi ciascun a gli occhi, ed a gli oreechi 

L' entrata, chi di te si truova indegno ; 
Grazia sola di su gli vaglia, inanti 
Che '1 dibio amoroso al cuor s' invecchL 

III. 

QuAL in coUe aspro, al imbrunir di sera 
L' avezza giovinetta pastorella 
Va bagnaudo 1' herbetta strana e bella 
Che mal si spande a disusata spera 

Fuor di sua natia alma primavera, 
Cosi Amor meco insfi la lingua snella 
Desta il fior novo di strania favella, 
Mentre io di te, vezzosamente altera, 

Canto, dal mio buon popol non inteso, 
E '1 bel Tamigi cangio col bel Arno. 
Amor lo volse, ed io a 1' altrui peso 

Seppi ch' Amor cosa mai volse indaruo. 
Deh ! foss' il mio cuor lento e '1 duro seno 
A chi pianta dal ciel si buon terreno. 



CANZONE. 

RiDONSi donne e giovani amorosi 
M' accostandosi attorno, e perche scrivi, 
Perche tu scrivi in lingua ignota e strana 
Verseggiando d' amor, e come t' osi ? 
Dinne, se la tua speme sia mai vana, 
E de pensieri lo miglior t' arrivi ; 
Cosi mi van burlando, altri rivi 
Altri lidi t' aspettan, et altre onde 
Nelle cui verdi sponde 
Spuntati ad hor, ad hor a la tua chioma 
L' immortal guiderdon d' eterue frondi ; 
Perche alle spalle tue soverchia soma ? 
Canzon dirotti, e tu per me rispondi 
Dice mia Donna, e '1 suo dir, e il mio cuore 
Questa e lingua di cui si vanta Amore. 



BONNETS. 473 



IV. 



DiODATi, e te '1 diro con maraviglia, 
Quel I'itvoso io ch' amor spreggiar 6ol6a 
E de siioi lacci spesso mi ridea 
Gia caddi, ov' hnom dabben talhor b' impAgfia. 

Ne treccie d' oro, ne guancia vermiglia 
M' abbaglian si, ma sotto nova idea 
Pellegriiia bellezza che' 1 cuor bea, 
Portanienti alti honesti, e nelle ciglia 

Quel serene fulgor d' amabil nero, 
Parole adorne di lingua pui d' una, 
E '1 cantar che di mezzo 1' hemispero 

Traviar ben puo la faticosa Luna, 
E degli occhi suoi auventa si gran fuooo 
Che I' incerar gli orecchi mi fia poco. 

V. 

Per certo i bei vost'r occhi, Donna mia 
Esser non puo che non sian lo mio sole 
Si mi percuoton forte, come ei suole 
Per 1' arene di Libia chi s' invia, 

Mentre un caldo vapor (ne senti pria) 
Da quel lato si spinge ove mi duole, 
Che forse amanti nelle lor parole 
Chiaman sospir ; io non so che si sia: 

Parte rinchiusa, e turbida si cela 

Scosso mi il petto, e poi n'uscendo poco 
Quivi d' attorno o s' agghiaccia, o s' ingiela; 

Ma quanto a gli occhi giunge a trovar loco 
Tutte le notti a me suol far provose 
Finche mia Alba rivien colma di rose. 

VI. 

GiovANE piano, e semplicetto amante, 
Poi che fuggir me stesso in dubbio sono. 
Madonna a voi del mio cuor 1' humil dono ' 
Faro divoto ; io certo a prove tante 

L' hebbi fed el e, iiitrepido, costante, 

De pensieri leggiadro, accorto, e buono ; 
Quando rugge il gran mondo, e scocca il tuono, 



474 SONNETS. 

S' arma di se, e d' intero diamante ; 

Tanto del forse, e d' invidia sicuro, 
Di timori, e sperauze al popol use 
Quanto d' ingegno, e d' alto valor vago, 
E di cetra sonora, e delle muse : 
Sol troverete in tal parte men duro 

Ove Amor mise 1' insanabil ago. 



VII. 



ON HIS BEING ARRIVED AT THE AGE OF 
TWENTY-THREE. 

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, 
Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year I 
My hasting days fly on with full career, 
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. 

Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, 
That I to manhood am arrived so near, 
And inward ripeness doth much less appear, 
That some more timely-happy spirits endu'th. 

Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow. 
It shall be still in strictest measure even 
To that same lot, hoAvever mean or high, 

Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven ; 

^ All is, if I have grace to use it so,^ 
As ever in my great Task-Master's eye. 



VIII. 

WHEN THE ASSAULT WAS INTENDED TO THR 

CITY. 

Captain or colonel, or knight in arms. 

Whose chance on these defenceless doors may seize, 

If deed of honour did thee ever please, 

Guard them, and him within protect from harms. 

lie can requite thee, for he knows the charms 
That call fame on such gentle acts as these, 
A.nd he can spread thy name o'er lands and seas, 



SONNETS. 47 { 

Wliatever clime the sun's bright circle ■warms. 

Lift not thy spear against the Muses' bower: 
The great Eniathian conqueror bid spare 
The house of Pindarus, wlien temple and tower 

Went to the ground : and the repeated air 
Of sad Electra's poet had the power 
To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare. 



IX. 

TO A VIRTUOUS YOUNG LADY. 

Lady, that in the prime of earliest youth 

Wisely hast shunned the broad way and the green, 
And with those few art eminently seen, 
That labour up the hill of heavenly truth, 

The better part with Mary and with Ruth 
Chosen thou hast ; and they that overween, 
And at thy growing virtues fret their spleen, 
No anger find in thee, but pity and ruth. 

Thy care is fixed, and zealously attends 

To fill thy odorous lamp with deeds of light, 

And hope that reaps not shame. Therefore be sure 

Thou, when the bridegroom with his feastful friends 
Passes to bliss at the mid hour of night. 
Hath gained thy entrance, virgin wise and pure. 



X. 

TO 1HE LADY MARGARET LEY. 

Daughter to that good earl, once President 
Of England's Council, and her Treasury, 
Who lived in both, unstained with gold or free, 
And left them both, more in himself content, 

rill sad the breaking of that Parliament 
Broke him, as that dishonest victory 
At Chreronea, fatal to liberty. 
Killed with report that old man eloquent. 

Though later born that to have known the days 



476 SONNETS. 

Wherein your father flotmshed, yet by you, 
Madam, methinks I see him living yet ; 
So well yoiar words his noble virtues praise, 
That all both judge you to relate them true. 
And to possess them, honoured Margaret. 



XI. 

ON THE DETRACTION WHICH FOLLOWED LTON 
IVIY WRITING CERTAIN TREATISES. 

A BOOK was writ of late, called " Tctrachordon," 
And woven close, both matter, form, and style,; 
The subject new : it walked the town a while. 
Numbering good intellects ; now seldom pored on. 

Cries the stall-reader. Bless us ! what a word on 
A title-page is this ! and some in file 
Stand spelling false, while one might walk to Mile- 
End Green. Why is it harder, sirs, than Gordon, 

Colkitto, or Macdonnel, or Galasp ? 

Those rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek, 
That would have made Quintilian stare and gasp. 

Thy age, like ours, O soul of Sir John Cheek, 
Hated not learning worse than toad or asp. 
When thou taught'st Cambridge, and king Edward, 
Greek. 



XII. 

ON THE SAME. 

I DID but prompt the age to quit their clogs 
By the known rules of ancient liberty. 
When straight a barbarous noise environs me 
Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes, and dogs : 

As when those hinds that were transformed to frogi 
Railed at Latona's twin-born progeny, 
Which after held the sun and moon in fee. 
But this is got by casting pearl to hogs. 

That bawl for freedom in their senseless mood, 



SONNETS. 47' 

And still revolt when truth woiild eet them free. 
License they mean when they cry " Liberty ! " 
For who loves that, must first be wise and good ; 
But from that mark liow far they rove we see 
For all this waste of wealth, and loss of blood. 



XIII. 
TO MR. H. LAWES ON HIS AIRS. 

FIakrt, whose tuneful and well-measured song 
First taught our English music how to span 
Words with just note and accent, not to scan 
With Midas' ears, committing short and long ; 

Thy worth and skill exempts thee from the throng,. 
With praise enough for envy to look wan ; 
To after age thou shalt be writ the man, 
That with smooth air couldst humour best our tongue 

Thou honour'st verse, and verse must lend her wing 
To honour thee, the priest of Phoebus' quire, 
That tun'st their happiest lines in hymn or story. 

Dante shall give Fame leave to set thee higher 
Than his Casella, whom he wooed to sing 
Met in the milder shades of purgatory. 



XIV. 



ON THE RELIGIOUS ME^IORY OF MRS. CATHA- 
RINE THOMSON, MY CHRISTIAN FRIEND. 

Deceased 16th December, 1646. 

When faith and love, which parted from thee never, 
Had ripened thy just soul to dwell with God, 
Meekly thou didst resign this earthly load 
Of death, called life ; which us from life doth sever. 

Thy works and alms and all thy good endeavour 
Stayed not behind, nor in the grave were trod ; 
But as faith pointed with her golden rod, 
Followed thee up to joy and bliss for ever. 



478 SONTSTETS. 

Love led them on, and faith, who knew them best 
Thy handmaids, clad them o'er with purple beams 
And azure wings, that up they flew so drest, 

And spake the truth of thee on glorious themes 
Before the Judge, who tJienceforth bid thee rest 
And drink thy till of pure immortal streams. 



XV. 

TO THE LORD GENERAL FAIRFAX. 

Fairfax, whose name in arms through Europe rings, 
Filling each mouth Math envy or with praise, 
And all her jealous monarchs with amaze 
And rumours loud, that daunt remotest kings, 

Thy firm unshaken virtue ever brings 

Victory home, though new rebellions raise 
Their Hydra heads, and the false north displays 
Her broken league to imp their serpent wings. 

Oh ! yet a nobler task awaits thy hand 

(For M^hat can war but endless war etill breed?) 
Till truth and right from violence be freed. 

And public faith cleared from the shameful brand 
Of public fraud. In vain doth valour bleed, 
While avarice and rapine share the land. 



XVI. 
TO THE LORD GENERAL CROMWELL. 

Cromwell, our chief of men, who through a cloud 
Not of war only, but detractions rude. 
Guided by faith and matchless fortitude. 
To peace and truth thy glorious way hast ploughed. 

And on the neck of crown6d fortune proud 

Hast reared God's trophies, and his work pursaed. 
While Darwen stream with blood of Scots imbrued, 
And Dunbar field resounds thy praises loud, 

And Worcester's laureate wreath. Yet much remains 
To conquer still ; peace hath her Tictories 



SONNETS. 479 

No less renowned than war : new foes arise 
Threatening to bind our s'onls with secular chains : 
Help us to save free conscience from the paw 
Of hireling wolves, whose gospel is their maw. 



XVI. 
TO SIR HENRY VANE THE YOUNGER. 

Vanb, young in years, but in sage counsel old, 
Than whom a better senator ne'er held 
The helm of Rome, when gowns not arms repelled 
The fierce Epirot and the African bold ; 

Whether to settle peace, or to unfold 

The drift of hollow states hard to be spelled, 
Then to advise how war may best upheld 
Move by her two main nerves, iron and gold. 

In all her equipage ; besides to know 

Both spiritual power and civil, what each means, 
What severs each, thou hast learned, which few have 
done : 

The bounds of either sword to thee we owe ; 
Therefore, on thy firm hand religion leans 
In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son. 



XVII. 

ON THE LATE MASSACRE IN PIEMONT. 

AvKNGB, O Lord ! thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold ; 
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old. 
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones, 

Forget not : in thy book record their groans 
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 
Slain by the bloody Piemontese that rolled 
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 

The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 
To Heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow 



480 SOKTNBTS. 

O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway 
The triple tyrant ; that from these may grow 
A hundredfold, who having learned thy way 
Early may fly the Babylonian woe. 



XIX. 
ON HIS BLINDNESS. 

Whkn I consider how my light is spent 

Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide ; 
And that one talent which is death to hide, 
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent 

To serve therewith my Maker, and present 
My true account, lest he returning chide ; 
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied, 
I fondly ask ? But Patience, to prevent 

That murmur, soon re])lies, God doth not need 
Either man's work or his own gifts ; who best 
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best : his state 

Is kingly ; thousands at his bidding speed. 
And post o'er land and ocean without rest; 
They also serve who only stand and wait. 



XX. 

TO MR. LAWRENCE. 

LAWREJfCE, of virtuous father virtuous son, 

Now that the fields are dank, and ways are miro, 
Where shall we sometimes meet, and by the fire 
Help waste a sullen day, what may be won 

From the hard season gaining ? Time will run 
On smoother, till Favonius re-inspire 
The frozen earth, and clothe in fresh attire 
The lily and rose, that neither sowed nor spun. 

What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice, 
Of Attic taste, with wine, whence we may rise 
To hear the lute well touched, or artful voice 

Warble immortal notes and Tuscan air ? 



SONNETa 481 

He who of those delights can judge, and spare 
To interpose tlieni oft, is not unwise. 



XXI. 

TO CTRIAC SKIXXER. 

Cyriac, whose grandsire on the royal bench 
Of British Themis, with no mean applause 
Pronounced, and in his volumes taught, our lawB, 
Which others at their bar so often wrench ; 

To-day deep thoughts resolve with me to drench 
In mirth, that after no re])enting draws ; 
Let Euclid rest, and Archimedes j>ause, 
And what the Swede intends, and Avhat the French. 

To measure life learn thou betimes, and know 
Toward solid good what leads the nearest way ; 
For other things mild Heaven a time ordains, 

And disapproves that care, though wise in show, 
That with supertiuous burded loads the day, 
And, when God sends a cheerful hour, refraini. 



XXII. 
TO THE SAME. 

Cyriac, this three years' day these eyes, though cleatr 

To outward view, of blemish or of spot, 

Bereft of light their seeing have forgot, 

Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear 
Of sun, or moon, or star throughout the year. 

Or man, or woman. Yet I argue not 

Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot 

Of heart or hope ; but still bear up, and steer 
Right onward. What supports me, dost thou ask? 

The conscience, friend, to have lost them overplied 

In liberty's defence, my noble task. 
Of which all Europe talks from side to side. 

This thought might lead me through the world's vain 
mask 

Content, though blind, had I no better guide. 
31 



482 80XNET8. 

XXIII. 
ON HIS DECEASED WIFE. 

Methottght I saw my late espoused saint 
Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave, 
Whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave, 
Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint. 

Mine, as whom washed from spot of child-bed taint 
Purification in the old law did save ; 
And such, as yet once more I trust to have 
Full sight of her in Heaven without restraint, 

Came vested all in white, pure as her mind : 
Her face was veiled, yet to my fancied sight 
Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined 

So clear, as in no face with more delight. 
But oh ! as to embrace me she inclined, 

I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night. 



PSALM I. 

DOKB INTO VEBSK, 1653. 

Blessed is the man who hath not walked astraj 

In council of the wicked, and i' the way 

Of sinners hath not stood, and in the seat 

Of scorners hath not sat. But in the great 

Jehovah's law is ever his delight, 

And in his law he studies day and night. 

He shall be as a tree which planted grows 

By watery streams, and in his season knows 

To yield his fruit, and his leaf shall not fall, 

And what he takes in hand shall prosper all. 

Not so the wicked, but as chaff which fanned 

The wind drives, so the wicked shall not stand 

In judgment, or abide their trial then. 

Nor sinners in the assembly of just men. 

For the Lord knows the upright way of the just ; 

And the way of bad men to ruin must. 



PSALM U. 
Done August 8, 1653. 

TerzetU. 

Why do the Gentiles tumult, and the nations 
Muse a vain thing, the kings of the earth upstand 
With power, and princes in their congregations 

Lay deep their plots together through each land 

T (483) 



484 PSALMS. 

Against the Lord and his Messiah dear ? 

Let us break off, say they, by strength of hand 

Their bonds, and cast from us, no more to wear, 
Their twisted cords : he who in Heaven doth dwell 
Shall laugh, the Lord shall scoff them, then severe 

Speak to them in his wrath, and in his fell 
And fierce ire trouble them ; but I, saith he, 
Anointed have my King (though ye rebel) 

On Sion my holy hill. A firm decree 
I will declare : the Lord to me hath said, 
Thou art my Son, I have begotten thee 

This day ; ask of me, and the grant is made ; 
As thy possession I on thee bestow 
The Heathen, and as thy conquest to be swayed 

Earth's utmost bounds : them shalt thou bring full low 
With iron sceptre bruised, and them disperse 
Like to a potter's vessel shivered so. 

And now be wise at length, ye kiugs averse ; 
Be taught, ye judges of the earth ; with fear 
Jehovah serve, and let your joy converse 

With trembling ; kiss the Son, lest he appear 
In anger, and ye perish in the way, 
If once his wrath take fire like fuel sere. 

Happy all those who have in him their stay. 



PSALM m. 
August 9, 1653. 

JPTten he fled from Absalom. 

LoBD, how many are my foes I 
How many those 
That in arms against me rise 1 
Many are they 
That of my life distrustfully doth say, 
No help for him in God there lies. 
But thou, Lord, art my shield, my glory, 
Thee through my story 



PSALMS. 485 

The exalter of my head I count ; 
Aloud I cried 
Unto Jehovah, he full soon replied, 
And heard me from his holy mount. 
I lay and slept, I waked again ; 
For my sustain 
Was the Lord. Of many millions 
The populous rout 
I fear not, though encamping round about 
They pitch against me their pavilions. 
Rise, Lord, save me, my God, for thou 
Hast smote ere now 
On the cheek-bone all my foes, 
Of men abhorred 
Hast broke the teeth. This help was from the Lord j 
Thy blessing on thy people flows. 



PSALM IV. 

August 10, 1653. 

Answer me when I call, 
God of my righteousness, 
In straits and in distress 
Thou didst me disenthrall 
And set at large ; now s])are, 

Now pity me, and hear my earnest prayer. 

Great ones, how long will ye 
My glory have in scorn, 
How long be thus forborne 
Still to love vanity. 
To love, to seek, to prize 

Things false and vain, and nothing else but lies? 
Yet know the Lord hath chose, 
Chose to himself apart. 
The good and meek of heart 
(For whom to choose he knows) ; 
Jehovah from on high 

Will hear my voice what time to him I cry. 



486 



Be awed, and do not sin, 
Speak to your hearts alone, 
Upon your beds, each one, 
And be at peace within. 
Offer the oflPerings just 

Of righteousness, and in Jehovah trust. 

Many there be that say. 
Who yet will show us good ? 
Talking like this world's brood ; 
But, Lord, thus let me pray, 
On us lift u}) the light, 
Lift up the the favour of thy countenance bright. 

Into my heart more joy 
And gladness thou hast put, 
Than when a year of glut 
Their stores doth over-cloy, 
And from their plenteous grounds 

With vast increase their corn and wine abounds. 

In peace at once will I 
Both lay me down and sleep, 
For thou alone dost keep 
Me safe where'er I lie : 
As in a rocky cell 

Thou, Lord, alone in safety mak'st me dwell. 



PSALM V. 
August 12, 1653. 

Jbhovah, to my words give ear, 
My meditation weigh ; 
The voice of my complaining hear, 
My King and God ; for unto thee I pray. 
Jehovah, thou my early voice 
Shall in the morning hear, 
I' the morning I to thee with choice 
Will rank my prayers, and watch till thou appear. 
For thou art not a God that takes 
In wickedness delight, 



PSALMS. 487 

Evil with thee no biding makes, 
Fools or mad men stand not within thy sight. 
All workers of iniquity 

Thou hat'st ; and them unblest 
Thou wilt destroy that speak a lie ; 
I'he bloody and guileful man God doth detest. 
But I will in thy mercies dear, 
Thy numerous mercies, go 
Into thy house ; I in thy fear 
Will towards thy holy tenij)le worship low. 
Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, 

Lead me because of those 
That do observe if I transgress ; 
Set thy ways right before, where my step goes. 
For in his faltering mouth unstable 

No word is firm or sooth ; 
Their inside, troubles miserable ; 
An open grave their throat, their tongue they BmiGOtlk 
God, find them guilty, let them fall 

By their own counsels quelled ; 
Push them in their rebellions all 
Still on ; for against thee they have rebelled. 
Then all who trust in thee shall bring 

Their joy ; while thou from blame 
Defend'st them, they shall ever sing 
And shall triumph in thee, who love thy name 
For thou, Jehovah, wilt be found 

To bless the just man still ; 
As with a shield thou wilt surround 
Him with thy lasting favour and good wilL 



PSALM VI. 

August 13, 1653. 

Lord, in thine anger do not reprehend me, 
Nor in thy hot displeasure me correct ; 
Pity me, Lord, for I am much deject, 
And very weak and faint ; heal and amend me 
For all my bones, that even with anguish ache, 



488 PSALMS. 

Are troubled, yea my soul is troubled sore, 

And thou, O Lord, how long? turn. Lord, restore 
My soul ; oh, save me for thy goodness sake : 
For in death no remembrance is of thee ; 

Who in the grave can celebrate thy praise ? 

Wearied I am with sighing out my days, 
Nightly my couch I make a kind of sea ; 
My bed I water with my tears ; mine eye 

Through grief consumes, is waxen old and dark 

I' the midst of all mine enemies that mark. 
Depart all ye that work iniquity, 
Depart from me ; for the voice of my weeping 

The Lord hath heard, the Lord hath heard my prayer, 

My supplication with acceptance fair 
The Lord will own, and have me in his keeping. 
Mine enemies shall all be blank and dashed 

With much confusion ; then grown red with shame, 

They shall return in haste the way they came, 
And in a moment shall be quite abashed. 



PSALM VII. 
August 14, 1653. 

Uffon the v)ord$ of Chush the Bevjamite against him, 

LoBD, my God, to tliee I fly ; 
Save me and secure me under 
Thy protection while I cry, 
Lest as a lion (and no wonder) 
He haste to tear my soul asunder. 
Tearing and no rescue nigh. 

Lord, my God, if I have thought 
Or done this ; if wickedness 
Be in my hands, if I have wrought 
111 to him that meant me peace, 
Or to him have rendered less, 
And not freed my foe for nought ; 



PBALMS. 48S 

Let the enemy pursue my soul 
And overtake it ; let him tread 
My life down to the earth, and roll 
In the dust my glory dead, 
In the dust ; and, there outspread, 
Lodge it with dishonour foul. 

Rise, Jehovah, in thine ire, 

Rouse thyself amidst the rage 

Of my foes that urge like fire ; 

And wake for me, their fury assuage ; 

Judgment here thou didst engage 

And command, which I desire. 

So the assemblies of each nation 
Will surround thee, seeking right, 
Thence to thy glorious habitation 
Return on high, and in their sight. 
Jehovah judgeth most upright 
All people from the world's foundation. 

Judge me. Lord, be judge in this 
According to my righteousness, 
And the innocence which is 
Upon me : cause at length to cease 
Of evD men the wickedness 
And their power that do amiss. 

But the just establish fast, 

Since thou art the just God that tries 

Hearts and reins. On God is cast 

My defence, and in him lies. 

In him who both just and wise 

Saves the upright of heart at last. 

God is a just judge and severe, 

And God is every day offended ; 

If the unjust will not forbear. 

His sword he whets, his bow hath bended 

Already, and for him intended 

The tools of death, that waits him near. 



490 PSALMS. 

(His arrows purposely made he 
For them that persecute.) Behold 
He travels big with vanity, 
Trouble he hath conceived of old 
As in a womb, and from that mould 
Hath at length brought forth a lie. 

He digged a pit, and delved it deep, 

And fell into the pit he made ; 

His mischief that due course doth keep, 

Turns on his head, and his ill trade 

Of violence will, undelayed. 

Fall on his crown with ruin steep. 

Then will I Jehovah's praise 
According to his justice raise, 
And sing the Name and Deity 
Of Jehovah the most high. 



PSALM VHL 
August 14, 1653. 

O Jehovae our Lord, how wondrous great 

And glorious is thy name through all the earth I 

So as above the heavens thy praise to set 
Out of the tender mouths of latest birth. 

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou 
Hast founded strength because of all thy foes, 

To stint the enemy, and slack the avenger's brow, 
That bends his rage thy providence to oppose. 

When I behold thy heavens, thy fingers' art, 

The moon and stars which thou so bright hast set 

In the pure firmament, then saith my heart, 
Oh, what is man that thou rememberest yet. 

And think'st upon him ; or of man begot. 

That him thou visit'st, and of him art found ? 

Scarce to be less than gods, thou mad'st his lot. 

With honour and with state thou hast him crowned 



PSALMS. 491 

O'er the works of thy hand thou mad'st him lord, 

Thou hast put all under his lordly feet, 
All flocks, and herds, by thy commanding word, 

All beasts that in ihe field or forest meet, 

Fowl of the heavens, and fish that through the wet 
Sea paths in shoals do slide, and know no dearth. 

O Jehovah our Lord, how wondrous great 

And glorious is thy name through all the earth I 



April, 1648. J. M. 

[Nine of the Psalms done into metre, wherein all, but what is in a differ- 
ent character, are the very words of the text, translated from th« 
original ] 

PSALM LXXX. 

1 Thou Shepherd that dost Israel keep^ 

Give ear in time of 7ieed, 
Who leadest like a flock of sheep 

77iy loved Joseph's seed, 
That sitt'st between the cherubs bright^ 

between their wings out-spread, 
Shine forth, and from thy cloud give light, 

And on our foes thy dread. 

2 In Ephraim's view and Benjamin's, 

And in Manasse's sight. 
Awake thy strength, come, and be seen 
To save us by thy might. 

3 Turn us again, thy grace divine 

To us, O God, vouchsafe / 
Cause thou thy face on us to shine. 
And then we shall be safe. 

4 Lord God of Hosts, how long wilt thou, 

How long wilt thou declare 
Thy smoking wrath, and angry brow 

Against thy jieople's prayer ! 
6 Thou feed'st them with the bread of tears, 

Their bread with tears they eat, 
And mad'st them largely drink the tears 

WTierewith their cheeks are wet. 



192 PSALMS. 

6 A strife thou mak'st us and a prey 

To every neighbour foe, 
Amongst themselves tliey laugh, they play, 
And flouts at us they throw. 

7 Return us, and thy grace divine^ 

O God of Hosts, vouchsafe^ 
Cause thou thy face on us to shine, 
Ard then we shall be safe. 

8 A vine from Egypt thou hast brought, 

Thy free love made it thine. 
And drov'st out nations, proud and hauty 
To plant this lovely vine. 

9 Thou didst prepare for it a place. 

And root it deep and fast. 
That it began to grow apace. 
And filled the land at last. 

10 With her green shade that covered aUy 

The hills were overspread, 
Her boughs as high as cedars tall 
Advanced their lofty head. 

11 Her branches on the western side 

Down to the eea she sent. 
And upward to that river loide 
Her other branches went. 

12 Why hast thou laid her hedges low. 

And broken down her fence, 
That all may pluck her, as they go, 
With rudest violence f 

13 The tusked boar out of the wood 

Upturns it by the roots. 
Wild beasts there browse, and make their food 
Ser grapes and tender shoots. 

14 Return now, God of Hosts, look down 

From Heaven, thy seat divine, 
Behold us, hut without afrown^ 
And visit this thy vine. 

15 Visit this vine, which thy right hand 

Hath set, and planted long. 
And the young branch, that for thyself 
Thou hast made firm and strong. 



PSALMS. 493 



16 But now it is consumed with fire, 

And cut with axes down ; 
They perish at thy dreadful ire, 
At thy rehuke and frown. 

17 Upon the man of thy right hand 

Let thy good hand he laid. 
Upon the son of man, whom thou 
Strong for thyself hast made. 

18 So shall we not go back from thee 

To ways of sin and shaine / 
Quicken us thou, then gladly we 
Shall call upon thy name. 

19 Return us, and thy grace divine, 

Lord God of Hosts, vouchsafe. 
Cause thou thy face on us to shine, 
And then we shall be safe. 



PSALM LXXXI. 

To God our strength sing loud, and clears 

Sing loud to God our King, 
To Jacob's God, that all may hear. 

Loud acclamations ring. 
Prepare a h}Tnn, prepare a song. 

The timbrel hither bring, 
The cheerful psaltery bring along, 

And harp icith pleasant string. 
Blow, as is icont, in the new moon 

With trumpets' lofty sound, 
The appointed time, the day whereon 

Our solemn feast comes round. 
This was a statute given of old 

For Israel to observe, 
A law of Jacob's God, to hold. 

From ichence they might not stoerve. 
This he a testimony ordained 

In Joseph, not to change, 
When as he passed through Egypt land ; 

The tongue I heard was strange. 



494 PSALMS. 

6 From burden, and from slavish toil, 

I set his shoulder free : 
His hands from pots, and miry soil. 
Delivered were bi/ me. 

7 When trouble did thee sore assail. 

On me then didst thou call, 
And I to free thee did not fail, 

And led thee out of thrall. 
I answered thee in thunder deep 

With clouds encompassed round ; 
I tried thee at the water steep 

Of Meribah renoioned. 

8 Hear, O my people, hearken well, 

I testify to thee. 
Thou ancient stock of Israel, 
If thou wilt list to me, 

9 Throughout the land of thy abode 

No alien god shall be, 
Nor shalt thou to a foreign god 
In honour bend thy knee. 

10 I am the Lord thy God, which brought 

Thee out of Egypt land ; 
Ask large enough, and I, besought. 
Will grant thy full demand. 

11 And yet my people would not hear. 

Nor hearken to my voice ; 
And Israel, whom I loved so dear, 
Misliked me for his choice. 

12 Then did I leave them to their will, 

And to their wandering mind ; 
Their own conceits they followed still, 
Thir own devices blind. 

13 Oh, that my people would be toise. 

To serve me all their days I 

And oh, that Israel would advise 

To walk my righteous ways ! 

14 Then would I soon bring down their foeOi 

That now so proudly rise, 
And turn my hand against all those 
That are their enemies. 



PSALMS. 495 

15 Who hate the Lord should tJien he fain 

To bow to him and bend ; 
But tfiey, his people, should remairiy 
Their time sliouki have no end, 

16 And he would feed them from the shock 

With flour of finest wheat, 

And satisfy them from the rock 

With honey ybr their meat. 



PSALM LXXXn. 

1 God in the great assembly stands 

Of kings and lordly states, 
Among the gods, on both his hands 
He judges and debates, 

2 How long will ye pervert the right 

With judgment false and wrong. 
Favouring the wicked by your mighty 
Who thence grow bold and strong f 
8 Regard the weak and fatherless, 
Despatch the poor man's cause, 
And raise the man in deep distress 
By just and equal laws, 

4 Defend the poor and desolate, 

And rescue from the hands 

Of wicked men the low estate 

Of him that help demands. 

5 They know not, nor will understand, 

In darkness they walk on ; 
The eartL'^ foundations all are moved, 
And out of order gone. 

6 I said that ye were gods, yea all 

The sons of God Most High ; 

7 But ye shall die like men, and fall 

As other princes die. 

8 Rise, God, judge thou the earth in mighty 

This wicked earth redress. 
For thou art he who shalt by right 
The nations all possess. 



496 PSALMS. 

PSALM LXXXIII. 

1 Bk not thou silent now at lengthy 

O God, hold not thy peace ; 
Sit thou not still, O God of strength^ 
We cry, and do not cease. 

2 For lo, thy furious foes note swell, 

And storm outrageously ; 
And they that hate thee, proud andfeU^ 

Exalt their heads full high. 
8 Against thy people they contrive 

Their plots and counsels deep, 
Them to ensnare they chiefly strive, 

Whom thou dost hide and keep. 

4 Come, let us cut them off, say they, 

Till they no nation be ; 
That Israel's name for ever may 
Be lost in memory. 

5 For they consult with all their might, 

And all as one in mind 
Themselves against thee they unite. 
And in firm union bind. 

6 The tents of Edom, and the brood 

Of scornful Ishmael, 
Moab, with them of Hagar's blood, 

That in the desert dwell^ 
\ Gebal and Ammon there conspire^ 

And hateful Am alec, 
The Philistines, and they of Tyre, 

Whose hounds the sea doth check, 

8 With them great Ashur also bands 

And doth confirm the knot: 
All these have lent their armed hand$ 
To aid the sons of Lot. 

9 Do to them as to Midian boldy 

That wasted all the coast. 
To Sisera, and as is told 

Thou didst to Jabin's host. 
When at the brook of Kishon old 
They were repulsed and slain^ 



PSALHS. 497 

10 At Endor q lite cut off, and rolled 

As dung upon the plain. 

11 As Zeb and Oreb evil eii><?d, 

So let their princes aj^eedy 
As Zeba and Zalniunna hled^ 
So let their princes bleed. 

12 For they amidst their pride have taid, 

By right now shall we seize 
God's houses, and ^cill note i?ivade 
Their stately palaces. 

13 My God, oh make them as a wheel, 

iVb qtiiet let them find ; 
Giddy and restless let them, reel 
Like stubble from the wind. 

14 As when an aged wood takes fire 

WTiich on a sudden strays, 
The greedy flame runs higher and higher 
Till all the mountains blaze, 

15 So with thy whirlwind them pursue, 

And with thy tempest chase ; 

16 And till they yield thee honour due, 

Lord, fill with shame their face. 

17 Ashamed, and troubled, let them be, 

Troubled and shamed for ever. 
Ever confounded, and so die 

With shame, and ''scape it never. 

18 Then shall they know that thou, whose name 

Jehovah is alone. 
Art the most high, and thou the same 
O'er all the earth art one. 



PSALM LXXXIV. 

How lovely are thy dwellings fair 
O Lord of hosts, how dear 

The pleasant tabernacles are. 
Where thou dost dicell so near t 
32 



498 PSALMS. 

2 My soul doth long and almost die 

Thy courts, O Lord, to see. 
My heart and flesh aloud do cry, 

O living God, for thee. 
8 There even the sparrow /r<je<?yrom vorong 

Hath found a house of rest. 
The swallow there, to lay her young 

Hath built her brooding nest ; 
Even by thy altars, Lord of Hosts, 

They find their safe abode ; 
And home they fly from round the coasts^ 

Toward thee, my King, my God. 

4 Happy, who in thy house reside, 

Where thee they ever praise, 

5 Happy, whose strength in thee doth bide, 

And in their hearts thy ways. 

6 They pass tlirough Baca's thirsty vale, 

T/iat dry and barren ground. 
As through a fruitful watery dale 
Where springs and showers abound. 

7 They journey on from strength to strength 

With joy ayid gladsome cheer, 
Till all before our God at length 
In Sion do appear. 

8 Lord God of Hosts, hear now my prayer, 

O Jacob's God give ear ; 

9 Thou God, our shield, look on the face 

Of thy anointed dear. 

10 For one day in thy courts to be 

Is better, and more blest. 
Than in the joys of vanity 

A thousand days at best. 
I in the temple of my God 

Had rather keep a door, 
Than dwell in tents, and rich abode. 

With sin for evermore. 

11 For God the Lord, both sun and shield. 

Gives grace and glory bright / 
No good from them shall be withheld 
Whose ways are just and right. 



PSALMS. 499 

12 Lord God of Hosts that reigrCst on high. 
That man is truly blest, 
Who only on thee doth rely, 
And in thee only rest. 



PSALM LXXXV. 

1 Thy land to favor graciously 

Thou hast not, Lord, been slack ; 
Thou hast from Iiard captivity 
Returned Jacob back. 

2 The iniquity thou didst forgive 

That xcrought thy people woe ; 
And all their sin, that did thee grieve. 
Hast hid where none shall know. 

3 Thine anger all thou hadst removed, 

And calmly didst return 
From thy fierce wrath which we had proved 
Far worse than fire to burn. 

4 God of our saving health and peace, 

Turn us, and us restore ; 
Thine indignation cause to cease 

Toward us, and chide no more, 
6 Wilt thou be angry without end, 

For ever angry thus ? 
Wilt thou thy frowning ire extend 

From age to age on us ? 

6 Wilt thou not turn, and hear onr voice. 

And us again revive ; 
That so thy people may rejoice 
By thee preserved alive. 

7 Cause us to see thy goodness, Lord, 

To us thy mercy shew ; 
Thy saving health to us afford, 
And life in us renew. 

8 And noxo what God the Lord will speak, 

I will go straight and hear ; 
For to his people he speaks peace. 
And to his saints /■«// dear. 



500 PSALMS. 

To his dear saints he will speak peace, 

But let them n n'er more 
Return to folly, but surcease 

To trespass as before. 
9 Surely to such as do him fear 

Salvation is at hand ; 
And glory shall ere long appear 

To dwell within our land. 

10 Mercy and Truth that long were missed 

^ovr joyfully are met ; 
Sweet Peace and Righteousness have kisseil. 
And hand in hand are set. 

11 Truth from the earth, like to a flower^ 

Shall bud and blossom then ; 
And Justice from her heavenly bower 
Look down on mortal men. 

12 The Lord will also then bestow 

Whatever thing is good ; 
Our land shall forth in plenty throw 
Her fruits to be our food. 

13 Before him Righteousness shall go, 

His royal harbinger : 
Then will he come, and not be slow, 
His footsteps cannot err. 



PSALM LXXXVI. 

1 Thy gracious ear, O Lord, incline, 

hear me, I thee pray. 
For I am poor, and almost pine 

With need, and sad decay. 

2 Preserve my soul, for I have trod 

Thy ways, and love the just ; 
Save thou thy servant, O my God, 
Who still in thee doth trust. 
8 Pity me. Lord, for daily thee 

1 call ; 4. Oh, make rejoice 

Thy servant's soul ; for. Lord, to thee 
I lift my soul and voice. 



PSALHS. 501 

6 For thou art good, thou, Lord, art prone 
To pardon, thou to all 
Art full of mercy, thou alone 
To them that on thee call. 

6 Unto my supplication, Lord, 

Give ear, and to the cry 
Of my i7icessant prayers afford 
Thy hearing graciously. 

7 I in the day of my distress 

Will call on thee /br aid ; 
For thou wilt grant me free access^ 
And answer what I prayed. 

8 Like thee among the gods is none, 

Lord, nor any works 

Of all that other gods have done 
Like to thy glorious works. 

9 The nations ail whom thou hast made 

Shall come, and all shall frame 
To bow them low before thee, Lord, 
And glorify thy name. 

10 For great thou art, and wonders great 

By thy strong hand are done, 
Thou in thy everlasting seat 
Remainest God alone. 

11 Teach me, O Lord, thy way most right, 

1 in thy truth will bide. 

To fear thy name my heart unite, 
So shall it never slide. 

12 Thee will I praise, O Lord my God, 

Thee honour and adore 
With my whole heart, and blaze abroa^ 
Thy name for evermore, 
18 For great thy mercy is toward me. 
And thou hast freed my soul, 
Even from the lowest hell set free. 
From, deepest darkness foul. 
14 O God ! the proud against me rise. 
And violent men are met 
To seek my life, an<i in their eyea 
No fear of thee have set. 



M2 



PSALMS. 



15 But thou, Lord, art the God most mild. 

Readiest thy gi'ace to show, 
Slow to be angry, and art styled 
Most merciful, most true. 

16 Oh, turn to me thy face at lengthy 

And me have mei*cy on ; 
Unto thy servant give thy strength, 
And save thy handmaid's son. 

17 Some sign of good to me afford, 

And let my foes then see. 
And be ashamed ; because thou. Lord, 
Dost help and comfort me. 



PSALM LXXXVII. 

1 Among the holy mountains high 

Is his foundation fast. 
There seated is his sanctuary. 
His temple there is placed. 

2 Sion'8/*air gates the Lord loves more 

Than all the dwellings /atV 
Of Jacob's land., though there he stort^ 
And all within his care. 
8 City of God, most glorious things 

Of thee abroad are spoke ; 
4 I mention Egypt, where proud kings 
Did our forefathers yoke ; 
I mention Babel to my friends, 

Philistia/w/Z of scorn, 
And Tyre with Ethiop's utmost enda^ 
Lo this man there was born : 
6 But twice that praise shall in our em 
Be said of Sion last ; 
This and this man was born in her, 
High God shall fix her fast. 
6 The Lord shall write it in a scroll, 
That ne'er shall be out-worn, 
When he the nations doth enrol. 
That this man there was bom. 



psAUtfs. 503 

7 Both they who sing, and they who dance, 
With sacred songs are there ; 
In the fresh brooks, and soft streams glance^ 
And all my fountains clear. 



PSALM LXXXVin. 

1 Lord God, that dost me save and keep, 

All day to thee I cry ; 
And all night long before thee weep^ 
Before thee prostrate lie. 

2 Into thy presence let my prayer 

With sighs devout ascend. 
And to my cries that ceaseless are^ 

Thine ear with favour bend. 
S For cloyed with woes and trouble store 

Surcharged my soul doth lie ; 
Mv life at death's uncheerful door 

tlnto the grave draws nigh. 

4 Reckoned I am with them that pass 

Down to the dismal pit ; 

I am a man, but weak, alas ! 

And for that name unfit. 

5 From life discharged and parted quite 

Among the dead to sleep ; 
And like the slain in bloody fight 

That in the grave lie deep. 
Whom thou rememberest no more, 

Dost never more regard ; 
Them from thy hand delivered o'er, 

Death's hideous house hath barred. 

6 Thou in the lowest -pit prof ound 

Hast set me all forlorn. 
Where thickest darkness hovers round. 
In horrid deeps oo mourn. 

7 Thy wrath, from, which no shelter saves. 

Full sore doth press on me ; 
Thou break'st upon me all thy waves, 
And all thy waves break me. 



504 PSALMS. 

8 Thou dost my friends from me estrange. 

And mak'st me odious, 
Me to them odious, /or they change^ 
And I here pent up thus. 

9 Through sorrow, and affliction great, 

Mine eye grows dim and dead ; 
Lord, all the day I thee entreat, 
My hands to thee I spread. 

10 Wilt thou do wonders on the dead ? 

Shall the deceased arise, 
And praise thee /row their loathsome bed 
With pale and hollow eyes? 

11 Shall they thy loving kindness tell 

On whom the grave hath hold^ 
Or they who in perdition dwells 
Thy faithfulness unfold? 

12 In darkness can thy mighty hand 

Or wondrous acts be known ? 
Thy justice in the gloomy land 
Of dark oblivion ? 

13 But I to thee, O Lord, do cry, 

£Jre yet my life be spent ; 
And up to thee my prayer doth hie^ 
Each morn, and thee prevent. 

14 Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake, 

And hide thy face from me, 

15 That am already bruised, and shake 

With terror sent from thee ? 
Bruised and afflicted, and so low 

As ready to expire ; 
While I thy terrors undergo, 

Astonished with thine ire. 

16 Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow, 

Thy threatenings cut me through : 

17 All day they round about me go, 

Like waves they me pursue. 

18 Lover and friend thou hast removed. 

And severed from me far : 
They Jly me now whom I have loved, 
And as in darkness are. 



PgALMS. 505 

A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXIV. 

[ThiB and the following Psalm were done by the Author at 

fifteen years old.] 

Whbn the blest seed of Terah's faithful son, 

After long toil, their liberty had won, 

And past from Pharian fields to Canaan land, 

Led by the strength of the Almighty's hand, 

Jehovah's wonders were in Israel shown, 

His praise and glory were in Israel known. 

That saw the troubled sea, and shivering fled. 

And sought to hide his froth-becurled head 

Low in the earth ; Jordan's clear streams recoil. 

As a faint host that hath received the foil. 

The high, huge-bellied mountains skipped like rams 

Amongst their ewes, the little hills like lambs. 

Why fled the ocean ? And why skipped the mountains f 

Why turned Jordan towards his crystal fountains ? 

Shake, Earth I and at the presence be aghast 

Of him that ever was, and aye shall last ; 

That glassy floods from rugged rocks can crush, 

And make soft rills from fiery flint-stones gush. 



PSALM CXXXVI. 

Let us, with a gladsome mind. 
Praise the Lord, for he is kind : 

For his mercies aye endure. 

Ever faithful, ever sure. 

Let us blaze his name abroad. 
For of gods he is the God : 
For his, &c. 

Oh, let us his praises tell, 
Who doth the wrathful tyrants quell ; 
For his, &c. 

Who with his miracles doth make 
Amaz6d Heaven and earth to shake: 
For his, «fcc. 



606 PSALMS. 

Who by his wisdom did create 
The painted heavens so full of state : 
For his, &c. 

Who did the solid earth ordain 
To rise above the watery plain : 
For his, &c. 

Who, by his all commanding might, 
Did fill the new-made world with lights 
For his, &c. 

And caused the golden-tress6d sun 
All the day long his course to run : 
For his, &c. 

The horned moon to shine by night, 
Amongst her spangled sisters bright : 
For his, &c. 

He, with his thunder-clasping hand, 
Smote the first-born of Egypt land : 
For his, &c. 

And in despite of Pharao fell. 
He brought from thence his Israel : 
For his, &c. 

The ruddy waves he cleft in twain 
Of the Erythraean main : 
For his, &c. 

The floods stood still like walls of glasi, 
While the Hebrew bands did pass : 
For his, &c. 

But full soon they did devour 
The tawny king with all his power : 
For his, &c. 

His chosen people he did bless 
In the wasteful wilderness : 
For his, &c. 



PSALMS. 507 

In bloody battle he brought down 
Kings of prowess and renown : 
For his, &c. 

He foiled bold Seon and his host, 
That ruled the Amorrean coast : 
For his, &c. 

And large-limbed Og he did subdue, 
With all his over-hardy crew : 
For his, &c. 

And to his servant Israel, 
He gave their land therein to dwell : 
For his, &c. 

He hath, with a piteous eye, 
Beheld us in our misery : 
For his, &c. 

And freed us from the slavery 
Of the invading enemy : 
For bis, &c. 

All livmg creatures he doth feed, 
And with full hand supplies their need • 
For his, &c. 

Let us therefore warble forth 
His mighty majesty and worth : 
For his, &c. 

That his mansion hath on high 
Above the reach of mortal eye : 

For his mercies aye endure, 

Ever faithful, ever sure. 



JOHANNIS MILTONI. 

LONDINENSIS 

^nemata. 

QT70BUH PLEBAQUB INTBA ANNTTM ^TATIS VIGESIMTrM CONSCBtPSlT. 



Hsec quae sequuntnr de Authore testimonia, tametsi ipse intelligebat 
nou tam de se quam supra se esse dicta, eo quod praeclaro ingenio viri, 
nee non amici ita ferfe Folent laudare, ut omnia suis potius virtutibus, 
quam verita.ti congruentia nimia cupide afflnpant, noluit tamer homm 
egregiam in se voluntatera non esse notam; cum alii prajsertini ut id 
faceret magnopere suaderent. Dum enim nimia? laudis invidiam totis 
ab se viribus amolitur, sibigue quod plus aequo est non attributum essfc 
mavult, judicium interim nominum cordatorum atque illustrium quia 
Bummo eibi honori ducat, negare non potest. 

JOANNES BAPTISTAMANSUS.MARCHIO VTLLENSIS, NEAPOLI- 
TANUS, 

AI> 

JOANNEM MILTONTDM ANGLUM. 

Ut mens, forma, decor, facies, mos, si pietas sic, 
Non Anglus, vertim hercle Angelus ipse fores. 

AD JOANNEM MILTONEM ANGLUM 

TBEPUCI POE8EOS UITJRBA COBONANDUM, 

tfrcBca nimimm, Latino, atque Hetrvsca, Epigramma Joannia SaUittt 
Romani. 

Cbdb Meles, cedat depressa Mincius uma ; 

Sebetus Tassum desinat usque loqui ; 
At Thamesis victor cunctis ferat altior undasi 

Nam per te, Milto, par tribus unus erit. 

(608) 



POKMATA. 509 

AD JOANNEM MILTONUM. 

Gr^cia Maeonidem, jactet sibi Roma Maronem, 
Anglia Miltonum jactat utrique parem. 

Sklvagoi. 

AL SIGNIOR GIO. MILTONI NOBILE INGLESE. 

Ode. 

Ergimi air Etra 6 Clio 

Perche di stelle intrecciero corona, 

Non piti del biondo Dio 

La fronde eterna in Pindo, e in Elicona, 

Diensi a merto maggior, maggiori i fregi, 

A' celeste virtti celesti pregi. 

Non puo del tempo edace 
Rimauer preda, eterno alto valore, 
Non puo I' oblio rapace 
Furar dalle memorie eccelso onore ; 
Su 1' arco di mia cetra un dardo forte 
Virtti m' adatti, e feriro la morte. 

Del Ocean profondo 

Cinta dagli ampi gorghi Anglia resiede 

Separata dal mondo, 

Perd che il suo valor I'umana eccede : 

Questa seconda sa produrre Eroi, 

Ch' hanno a ragion del sovruman tra noL 

Alia virtti sbandita 

Danno ne i petti lor fido ricetto, 

Quella gli 6 sol gradita, 

Perche in lei san trovar gioia e diletto ; 

Ridillo tu, Giovanni, e mostra in tan to 

Con tua vera virtti, vero il mio canto. 

Lungi dal patrio lido 

Spinse Zeusi 1' industre ardente brama ; 

Ch' udio d' Helena il grido 

Con aurea tromba rirabombar la fama, 

E per poterla effigiare al paro 

Dalle piii belle Idee trasse il piti raro. 



610 POEMATA. 

Cosi 1' ape ingegnosa 

Trae con industria il suo liquor pregiato 

Dal giglia e dalla rosa, 

E quanti vaghi fiori ornano il prato ; 

Formano un dolce suon diverse chorda, 

Fan varie voci melodia concorde. 

Di bella gloria amante 

Milton dal Ciel natio per varie parti 

Le peregrine piante 

Volgesti a ricercar scienze, ed arti ; 

Del Gallo regnator vedesti i regni, 

E dell' Italia ancor gl' Eroi pit degni. 

Fabro quasi divino 

Sol virtti rintracciando il tuo pensiero 

Vide in ogni confino 

Chi di nobil valor calca il sentiero ; 

L' ottirao dal miglior dopo scegliea 

Per fabbricar d'ogni virtu 1' idea. 

Quanti nacquero in Flora 

in lei del parlar Tosco appreser 1' arte, 
La cui memoria onora 

H mondo fatta eterna in dotte carte, 
Volesti ricercar per tuo tesoro, 
E parlasti con lor nell' opre lore. 

Nell' altera Babelle 

Per te il parlar confuse Giove in vano, 

Che per varie favelle 

Di se stessa trof eo cadde su '1 piano : 

Ch' ode oltr' all' Anglia il suo piii degno idioma 

Spagna, Francia, Toscana, e Grecia, e Roma. 

1 piti profondi arcani 

Ch' occulta la natura e in cielo e in terra 
Ch' k ingegni sovruraani 
Troppo avara tal' hor gli chiude, e serra, 
Chiaramente conosci, e giungi al fine 
Delia moral virtude al gran confine. 



POEM ATA. 511 

Non batta il Tempo V ale, 

Fermisi immoto, e in un ferniin si gl' anni, 

Che di virtti iinmortale 

Scorron di troj)})o ingiuriosi a i danni; 

Che s' oj)re degne di poem a o storia 

Furon gia, I' hai presenti alia memoria. 

Damrai tua dolce cetra 

Se vuoi ch' io dica del tuo dolce canto, 

Ch' inalzandoti all' Etra 

Di farti huonio celeste ottiene il vanto, 

II Taniigi il dira che gl' e conceeso 

Per te, suo cigno, parreggiar Permesso. 

I o che in riva del Arno 

Tento epiegar tuo merto alto e preclaro, 

So che fatico indarno, 

E ad ammirar, non a lodarlo imparo ; 

Freno dunque la lingua, e ascolto il core 

Che ti prende a lodar con lo stupore. 

Del sig. Antonio Franclm, 

Gentilhuomo Fiorentino 



JOANNI MILTOXI 

LONDINKNSI : 

Jnveni patria, virtutibus, eximio, 

YiRO qui multa peregrinatione, studio cuncta orbis 
terrarum loca perspexit, ut novus IJlyssep omnia ubique 
ab omnibus a])prehenderet : 

Polyglotto, in en jus ore linguae jam deperditae sic re- 
viviscunt, ut idiomata omnia sint in eJAis laudibus infar 
cunda ; et jure ea percallet, ut admirationes et jJausus 
populorum ab propria sapientia excitatos intelligat : 

llli, cujus animi dotes corporisque sensus ad adniira- 
tionem commovent, et per ipsam motum cuique auferunt ; 
cujus opera ad plausus hortantur, sed venustate vocem 
laudatoribus adimunt. 



512 POKMATA. 

Cui in memoriS totus orbia ; in intellectu sapientia ; 
in voluntate ardor glorias ; in ore eloquentia ; harmonicoa 
ccelestiiim sphferarum sonitiis astronomia duce audienti ; 
characteres mirabilium naturae per quos Dei magnitude 
describitur magistra philosopbia legenti ; antiquitatum 
latebras, vetustatis excidia, eruditionis ambages, comite 
assiduS auctorum lectione, 

" Exquirenti, restaurant!, percurrenti. 
At cur nitor in arduum ? " 

nil in cujus virtutibus evulgandis ora Famae non suiS- 
ciant, nee hominum stupor in laudandis satis est, rever- 
entiae et amoris ergo hoc ejus meritis debitum admira- 
tionis tributum offert Carolus Datus, Patricias Floren- 
tinus, 

Tanto homini servns, tantae virtutis amator. 



fltgiarnni ICihcr Tj^xmu. 



ELEGIA PRIMA 
Ad Carolum Deodatum. 

Tandem, chare, tuas mihi pervenere tabellw 

Pertulit et voces nnncia charta tnas; 
Pertulit, occidua Devje Cestrensis ab or& 

Vergiviuni prono qua petit amne salum. 
Multuni, crede, juvat terras aluisse remotas 

Pectus amans nostri, tamque fidele caput, 
Quodque mihi le]>iduni telhis longinqua sodalem 

Debet, at unde brevi reddere jussa velit. 
Me tenet urbs reflua quam Thamesis alluitundS, 

Meque nee invituni patria dulcis habet. 
Jam nee arundiferum mihi cura revisere Camum, 

Nee dudum vetiti me laris angit amor. 
Nuda nee arva placent, umbrasque ncgantia molles i 

QuSm male Phcebicolis convenit ille locus I 
Nee duri libet usque minas perferre magistri, 

Cajteraque ingenio non subeunda meo. 
Si sit hoc exilium patrios adiisse penates, 

Et vacuum curis otia grata sequi, 
Non ego vel profugi nomen, sortemve recuso, 

L£etu3 et exilii conditione fruor. 
O utinam vates nunquam graviora tulisset 

Ille Tomitano flebilis exul agro ; 
Non tunc lonio quicquam cessisaet Homero. 

Neve foi-et victo laus tibi prima Marc. 



514 ELEGIARUM LIBEK PRIMUS. 

Tempora nam licet hie plaeidis dare libera Musis, 

Et totum rapiunt me mea vita liLri. 
Excipit hinc fessum sinuosi pompa tlieatri, 

Et vocat ad plausus garnila scena suos, 
Seu catus auditur senior, sen prodigus hjeres, 

Seu procus, aut posita casside miles adest, 
Sive deconnali fcecundus lite patronus 

Detonat inculto barbara verba foro ; 
Saepe vafer gnato succiirrit serviis amanti, 

Et nasum rigidi fallit ubique ])atris ; 
Ssepe novos illic virgo mirata calores 

Quid sit amor nescit, dum quoque nescit, amat. 
Sive cruentatum furiosa Traga'dia sceptrum 

Quassat, et effusis crinibus era rotat, 
Et dolet, et specto, juvat et spectasse dolendo, 

Interdum et lacrymis dulcis amaror iuest : 
Seu puer infelix indelibata reliquit 

Gaudia, et nbrupto tlendus amore cadit ; 
Seu ferns ^ tenebris iterat Styga criniinis ultor, 

Const'ia fnnereo pectora torre movens ; 
Seu mffiret Pelopeia domus, seu nobilis Hi, 

Aut luit incestos aula Creontis avos. 
Sed neqne sub tecto semper nee in urbe latemuB, 

Irrita nee nobis temj»ora veris eunt. 
No8 quoqno Incus liabet vicina consitus ulmo, 

Atque suburbani nobilis umbra loci. 
Saepius hie blandas spirantia sidera flammas, 

Virgineos videas praeteriisse oborc>w. 
Ah quoties dignae stupui miracula formae, 

Quae possit senium vel reparare Jovis ! 
Ah quoties vidi su])erantia lumina gcmmas, 

Atque faces, quotquot volvit uterque polus ; 
Collaque bis vivi Pelopis quae bracliia vincant, 

Quaeque fluit puro nectare tincta via ; 
Et decus eximium frontis, tremulosque capillos, 

Aurea quaa fallax retia tendit amor ; 
Pellacesque genas, ad quos hyacinthina sordet 

Purpura, et ipse tui floris, Adoni, rubor I 
Cedite laudatae toties Heroides olim, 

Et quaecunque vagum cepit amica Jovem; 



ELEGIARUM LIBER PBIMUS. dlb 

Cedite Achaemenias turrita fronte puellae, 

Et quot Susa cohmt, Mcrunoniamque Niuon. 
Vos etiam Danaae fasces subinittite Nyinphse, 

Et vos Iliaca), Ri)mulea3que nurus. 
Nee Pompeianas Tarpeia JNIusa columnas 

Jactet, et Ausoniis plena theatra stolis. 
Gloria virginibus debetur prima Britannis, 

Extera sat tibi sit fceinina posse sequi. 
Tuque urbs Dardaiiiis, Loiidiiiuin, structa colonU, 

Turrigerum lat6 conspicienda caput, 
Tu nimium felix intra tua nicenia claudis 

Quicquid forinosi pendidus orbis habet. 
Non tibi tot coelo scintillant astra serene, 

Endyniioneae turba ministra deae, 
Quot tibi, conspicuie forniaque anroque puellae 

Per niedias radiaut turba videnda vias. 
Creditur hue gominis venisse invecta columbifl 

Alma pharetrigero milite cincta Venus, 
Huic Cnidon, et riguas Simoentis flumine valles, 

Iluic Paphon, et roseam jiost habitura Cypron. 
Ast ego, duin pueri sinit indulgentia caeci, 

Moenia quam subito linquere fausta pare ; 
Et vitare ])ro(',ul malefidas infamia Circes 

Atria, diviui Molyos usus ope. 
Stat quoque juncosas Cami remeare paludes, 

Atque iterum raucfe murmur adire scholae. 
Interea fidi parvunt cape munus amici, 

Paucaque in alternos verba coacta modos. 



ELEGIA SECUNDA. 
Anno ^tatis 17. 

In obitum Prczconis Academici Cantabriffientii. 

Tk, qui conspicuuR baculo fulgente solebas 
Palladium toties ore ciere gi'egem, 

Ultima praeconum pneconem to quoque saeva 
Mors rapit, ofHcio nee favet ipsa suo. 

Candidiura licet fuerint tibi totnpora plumis 
Sub quibus accipimus delituisse Jovem ; 

T 



616 ELEGIAKUM LIBER PRIMUS 

O dignus tamen HaBmoilio juvenescere succo, 

Dignus in ^sonios vivere posse dies, 
Dignus quern Stygiis medica revocaret ab undis 

Arte Coronides, saepe rogante dea. 
Tu si jussus eras acies accire togatas, 

Et celer a Phcebo nuntius ire tuo, 
Talis in Iliaca stabat Cylleuius aula 

Alipes, aetherea missus ab arce Patris. 
Talis et Eurybates ante ora furentis Acliillei 

Rettulit Atridae jussa severa ducis. 
Magna sepulchrorum regina, satelles Avenii, 

Saeva nimis Musis, Palladi saiva niniis, 
Quin illos rapias qui pond us inutile terr 

Turba quidem est talis ista petenda tuis. 
Vestibus hunc igitur pullis Acadeiuia luge, 

Et madeant laclirymis nigra feretra tuis. 
Fundat et ipsa modos querebunda Elegeia tristes, 

Personet et totis uaenia moesta scholis. 



ELEGIA TERTIA, 

Anno JEtatis 17. 
In obitum Proesulia Wintoniensia. 

McESTUs eram, et tacitus nullo comitante sedebam, 

Ilaerebantque animo tristia plura meo, 
Protinus en subiit funestae cladis imago 

Fecit in Angliaco quam Libitina solo ; 
Dum procerum ingressa est splendentes marmore turret, 

Dira sepulchrali mors metuenda face ; 
Pulsavitque auro gravidos et jaspide muros, 

Nee metuit satrapum sternere falce greges. 
Tunc niemini clarique ducis, fratisque verendi 

Intempestivis ossa cremata rogis : 
Et memini Heroum quos vidit ad jethera raptos, 

Flevit et amissos Belgia tota duces : 
At te pracipu^ luxi, dignissime Pra^sul, 

Wintoniaeque olim gloria magna tuse ; 



ALBGIABUM LIBKB PK1MU8. 517 

Delicui fletu, et tristi sic ore querebar, 

Mors fera, Tartareo diva secunda Jovi, 
Noiine satis quod sylva tuas pcrsentiat irae, 

Et quod in herbosos jus tibi detur ati;ros, 
Quodque afflata tuo inarcescant lilia tabo, 

Et crocus, et pulchriB Cypridi sacra rosa, 
Nee siiiis ut semper fluvio conterinina quercus 

Miretur la])sus pra^lereuntis aquaa ? 
Et tibi succumbit liquido quae plurima ccelo 

Evehitur peniiis quanilibet augur avis, 
Et qua^ inille nigris errant aninialia sylvis, 

Et quod alunt mutum Froteos antra pecus. 
Invida, tanta tibi cum sit concessa potestas ; 

Quid juvat Imniana tingore caede manus? 
Kobileque in pectus certas acuisse sagittas, 

Semideamque animam sede fugasse sua? 
Talia dum lacrymans alto sub pectore volvo, 

Koscidus occiduis Hesperus exit aquis, 
Et Tartessiaco submerserat aquore currum 

Phoebus, ab Eoo littore mensus iter. 
Nee mora, men\bra cavo posui refovenda cubili, 

Condiilerant oculos noxque soporque meos: 
Cum mihi visus eram lato spatiarier agro, 

Heu nequit ingeniuni visa referre meum. 
lllic j>unicea radiabant omnia luce, 

Ut matutino cum juga sole rubent. 
Ac veluti cum ])andit 0])eB Thaumantia proles, 

Vestitu uituit multicolore solum. 
Non dea tarn variis ornavit fluribus hortOB 

Alcinoi, Zephyro Chloris amata levi. 
Flumina vernantes lanibunt argentea campos, 

Ditior Hesperior Havet arena Tagc. 
5erpit odoriferas ])er opes levis aura Favoni, 

Aura sub innumeris humida nata rosis, 
Palis in extremis terra? Gangetidis oris 

Luciferi regis tingitur esse donius. 
Ipse racemiferis dum densas vitibus umbras, 

Et pelluceiites niiror ubique locos, 
Ecce mihi subito Fra^sul Wintonius astat, 

Sidereum nitido fulsit in ore jubar; 



L8 KLEGIAKUM LIBEB PRIMUS. 

Vestis ad auratos defluxit Candida talos, 

Infula divinum cinxerat alba caput. 
Dumque sonex tali iiicedit venerandus amictu, 

Intremuit laeto florea terra sono. 
Agraina gcnnmatis plaudunt coilestia pennis, 

Pura triumphali personat sethra tuba. 
Quisque novum am]>lexu comitem cantuque salutat, 

Hosque aliquis placido misit ab ore sonos ; 
Nate veni, et patrii felix cape gaudia regui, 

Semper ab liinc duro, nate, labore vaca. 
Dixit, ex aligeree tetigerunt nablia turmas, 

At mihi cum tenebris aurea pulsa quies. 
Flebam turbatos Ceplialeiu pellice somnos, 

Talia contingant somnia saepe mihi. 



ELEGIA QUARTA, 

Anno jEtatis 18. 

Ad Thomam Juxium praceptorem suum, apud mercatorea Anglicot 
Hamburga agentes, Pastoris miinere fungentem. 

CuBRK per immensum subito mea littera pontum, 

I, pete Teutonicos Ixve per aequor agros ; 
Segnes rumj)e moras, et nil, precor, obstet eunti, 

Et festinantisnil remoretur iter. 
Ipse ego Sicanio frrenanteni carcere ventos 

^olon, et virides sollicitabo Deos, 
Caeruleamque suis comitatam Doj-ida Nymphis, 

Ut tibi dent placidam ])er sua regna viam. 
At tu, si poteris, celeres tibi sume jugales, 

Vecta quibus Colchis fugit ab ore viri ; 
Aut queis Triptolemus Scythicas dovenit in orag 

Gratus Eleusina missus ab urbe puer. 
Atque ubi Germanas flavere videbis arenas, 

Ditis ad Hamburgre niffinia flecte gradum, 
Dicitur occiso quae ducere nomen ab Hama, 

Cimbrica qucm fertur clava dedisse neci. 
Vivit ibi antiquae clarus pietatis honore 

Praesul, Christicolas pascere doctus oves j 



ELEGIARUM LIBER PEniUS. 519 

rile qiiidem est aiiiin.ie jiliisquam pars altera nostrae ; 

Diinidio vitai vivere cowr eyro. 
Hei mihi ! qiiot pelagi, quot montes interjecti, 

Me faciunt alia parte carere mei! 
Charior ille mihi quam tu doctissiine Graium 

Cliniadi, prone])Os qui Telamonis erat ; 
QiuiJuque Stagirites generoso magnus alumno, 

Quem pcperit Lybieo Cliaonis alina Jovi. 
Qualis Amyntorides, qualis Pliilyreius hero* 

Myrmidouum regi, talis et ille mihi. 
Primus ego Aonios ilio praeeimte recessus 

Lustraliam, et bifidi sacra vireta jugi, 
Pieriosque hausi latices, Clioque favente, 

Castalio sparsi laeta ter ora mero. 
Flamineus at signum ter viderat arietis ^thon, 

Induxitque auro lanea terga novo, 
Bisque novo terram sparsisti, Chlori, scnilem 

Gramine, bisque tuas abstulit Auster opes : 
Necdum ejus licuit mihi lumina pascere vultu, 

Aut linguie dulces aure bibisse sonos. 
Vade igitur, cursuque Euruni prasverte sonorum, 

Quam sit opus monitis res docet, ipsa vides. 
Invenies dulei cum conjuge fortd sedeutem, 

Mulcentem gremio pignora chara suo, 
Forsitan aut veterum pr;elarga volumina patrum 

Versantem, aut veri biblia sacra Dei, 
Coelestive animas saturantem rore tenellas, 

Grande salutifene religiouis opus. 
Utque solet, multam sit dicere cura salutera, 

Dicere quam decuit, si modo adesset, herum. 
Hfec quoque, paulum oculos in humun\ defixa modeetos, 

Verba verecundo sis memor ore loqui : 
Haec tib , si teneris vacat inter prrelia Musis, 

Mittit ab Angliaco littore fida manus. 
Accipe sinceram, quamvis sit sera, salutem ; 

Fiat et hoc ipso gratior ilia tibi. 
Sera quidem, sed vera fuit, quam casta recepit 

Icaris a lento Penelopeia viro. 
Ast ego quid volui manifestum tollere crimen, 

Ipse quod ex omui parte levure nequit? 



620 BliEGIAEUM LIBEB PEIMU8. 

Arguitur tardus merito, noxamque fatetur, 

Et pudet officium deseruisse suum. 
Tu modo da veniam fasso, veiiiamque roganti, 

Crimina dimiuui, quae patuere, solent. 
Non ferus in pavidos rictus diducit liiantee, 

Vulnifieo pronos nee rapit ungue leo. 
Saepe sarissiferi crudelia pectora Tbracis 

Supplicis ad nioestas delicuere preces. 
Extensaique manus avertunt fulminis ictus, 

Placat et iratos hostia parva Deos. 
Jamque diu scripsisse tibi fuit impetus illi, 

Neve moras ultra ducere passus Amor. 
Nam vaga Fama refert, heu nuntia vei-a malorum I 

In tibi finitimis bella tumere locis, 
Teque tuamque urbem truculento milite cingi, 

Et jam Saxonicos arma parasse duces. 
Te circum late campos po]>ulatur Euyo, 

Et sata carne vir(lm jam cruor arva rigat ; 
• Germanisque suum concessit Tbracia Martem, 

Illuc Odrysios Mars pater egit equos ; 
Perpetuoque comans jam deflorescit oliva, 

Fugit et aerisonam Divi perosa tubam, 
Fugit To terris, et jam non ultima virgo 

Creditur ad superas justa volasse domes. 
Te tamen interea belli circumsonat horror, 

Vivis et ignoto solus ino])sque solo ; 
Et, tibi quam patrii non exhibuere penates, 

Sede peregrina quseris egenus opem. 
Patria dura parens, et saxis saevior albis 

Spumea quaj pulsat littoris unda tui, 
Siccine te decet innocuos exponere foetus, 

Siccine in externam ferrea cogis humum 
Et sinis ut terris quserant alimenta remotib 

Quos tibi prospicieus raiserat ipse Deua, 
Et qui laita ferunt de ccelo nuntia, quique, 

Qu£e via post cineres ducat ad astra, docent r 
Digna quidem Stygiis qua3 vivas clausa tenebris, 

^ternaque animae digna perire fame ! 
Haud aliter vates terras Thesbitidis olim 
Pressit inassueto devia tesqua pede. 



BLBGIABUM LIBKR PBIMUS. 52] 

Desortasque Arabum salebras, dum re<ji8 Achabi 

Effugit atque tuas, S'uloui (lira, maims. 
Talis et horrisono lat-eratiis membra flagello, 

Paulus ab iEmathia pellitur urbe Cilix. 
Piscosaeque ipsum Gergessie civis lesum 

Finibus ingi-atus jussit abire suis. 
At tu Slime animos, nee 8}ies cadat anxia curia, 

Nee tiia concutiat deeolor ossa metus. 
Sis etenim quamvis fulgentibus obsitus arm.iB, 

Intententqiie tibi millia tela necem, 
At nullis vel inerme latus violabitur armis, 

Deque tuo cuspis nulla cruore bibet. 
Namque eris ipse Dei radiante sub ajgide tutus, 

Ille tibi custos, et pugil ille tibi ; 
Ille Sionajoe qui tot sub mcenibus arcia 

Assyrios fudit nocte silente viros ; 
Inque fugam vertit quos in Samaritida« oras 

Misit ab antiquis prisca Damascus agris, 
Terruit et densas pavido cum rege cohortes, 

Aere dura vacuo buccina clara sonat, 
Cornea pulvereum dum verberat ungula campum, 

Ciirrus arenosam dum quatit actus humum, 
Auditurque hinnitus equorum ad bclla ruentflm, 

Et strepitus ferri, murmuraquc aita virlim. 
Et tu (quod superest miseris) sperare memento, 

Et tua magnanimo pectore vince mala ; 
Nee dubites quandoque frui melioribus annis, 

Atque iterum patrios posse videre lares. 



ELEGIA QUINTA, 

Anno ^tatis 20. 
In adventum veris. 

In 86 perpetuo Tempus revolubile gyro 

Jam revocat ZephjTos vere tepente novos ; 

Induiturque breveni Tellus reparata juventam, 
Jamque soluta gelu dulce virescit bumus. 

Fallor? an et nobis redeunt in carmina vires, 
Ingeniumque uiihi miinere veris adest? 



522 ELBGIARUM LfBER PRIMUS. 

Munere veris adest, iterumque vigescit ab illo 

(Quis putet ?), atque aliquod jam sibi poscit opus 
Castalis ante oculos, bifidumque cacumen oberrat, 

Et mibi Pyrenen sorania nocte ferunt ; 
Concitaque arcano fervent mihi j^ectora motu, 

Et furor, et sonitus rae sacer inttis agit. 
Delias ipse venit, video Peneide lauro 

Implicitos crines, Delias ipse venit. 
Jam mihi mens liquidi raptatur in ardua cceli, 

Perque vagas nubes corpore liber eo ; 
Perqae ambras, perqtxe antra feror penetralia vatum, 

Et mihi fana patent interiora Deftm ; 
Intnitarqne animus toto quid agatur 01^-mpo, 

Nee fugiunt oculos Tartara cffica meos. 
Quid tarn grande sonat distento spiritus ore ? 

Quid parit base rabies, quid sacer iste furor? 
Ver mihi, quod dedit ingenium, cantabitur illo ; 

Profuerint isto reddita dona modo. 
Jam Philomela tuos foliis adoperta novellis 

Instituis modulos, dum silet omne nemus : 
Urbe ego, tu sylva, simul incipiamus utrique, 

Et simul adventum veris uterque canat. 
Veris lo ! rediero vices, celebremus honores 

Veris, et hoc subeat Musa perennis opus. 
Jam sol ^thiopas fugiens Tithoniaque arva, 

Flectit ad Arctoas aurea lora plagas. 
Est breve noctis iter, brevis est mora noctis opacffi, 

Horrida cum tenebris exulat ilia suis. 
Jamque Lycaonius plaustrum coeleste Bootes 

Non longa sequitur fessus ut ante via ; 
Nunc etiam solitas circura Jovis atria toto 

Excubias agitant sidera rara polo. 
Nam dolus, et casdes, et vis cum nocte recessit, 

Neve Giganteum Dii timuere scelus. 
Forte aliquis scopuli recubans in vertice pastor, 

Roscida cum primo sole rubescit humus, 
Hac, ait, hac certe caruisti nocte pucll^, 

Phoebe tua, celeres quae retineret equos. 
Laeta suas repetit sylvas, pharetramque resumit 

Cynthia, Luciferas ut videt alta rotas, 



BLBGIARrM LIBKIl rRTiOXS. 622 

Et tennes ponens radios gnudere videtur 

OfRcinm fieri tani breve fratris ope. 
Deeere, PIui'Idus ait, thalanios Aurora seniles, 

Quid jurat effa?to procubuisse toro ? 
Te manet ^ilolides viridi venator in lierba, 

Surge, tuos ignes altus Ilymettus habet, 
Flava verecundo dea crimen in ore fatetur, 

Et matutinos ocius urget equos. 
Exuit invisani Telhis rcdiviva senectam, 

Et cupit ani])lexus, Phcebe, subire tuos; 
Et cupit, et digna est. Quid enini forinoBius illfi, 

Pandit ut oniniferos hixuriosa sinus, 
Atque Arabum sjnrat messes, et ab ore venusto, 

Mitia cum Paphiis fundit amoma rosis 1 
Ecce coronatiir sacro frons ardua hico, 

Cingit ut Idjeam pinea turris 0])im ; 
Et vario madidos intexit flore capillos, 

Floribus et visa est posse placere suis. 
Floribus effusos ut erat redimita (•aj)illos 

Tenario placuit diva Sicana Deo. 
Aspice, Pha4)e, tibi faciles hortantur amores, 

5lellitasque movent flamina verna ])rece8. 
Ciunaraea Zepbyrus leve plaudit odorifcr ala, 

Blanditiasque tibi ferre videntur aves, 
Nee sine dote tuos temeraria quarit amores 

Terra, nee 0])tatos poscit egena toros, 
Alma salutiferum medicos tibi gramen in usus 

Pra>bet, et hinc titulos adjuvat ipsa tuos. 
Quod si te pretium, si te fulgentia tangunt 

Munera (niunoribus sjepe coem])tu8 Amor), 
nia tibi ostentat quascnnque sub aequore vasto, 

Et superinjectis montibus abdit opes. 
Ah quoties, cum tu clivoso fessus Oljinpo 

In vespertinas prajci])itari8 aquas. 
Cur te, inquit, cursu languentem, Phoebe, diumo 

Hesperiis reci])it Ca^rula mater aquis ? 
Quid tibi cum Tethy ? Quid cum Tartesside lymphft, 

Dia quid immundo perluis ora salo ? 
Frigora, Pha'be, mea melius ca})tabi8 in umbrfi, 

Hue ades, ardentes imbue rore comas. 



524 BLKGIAKUM LIBEK PEIMUS. 

MollioT egelidS veniet tihi somnus in herb&, 

Hue ades, et crremio Inmina pone meo. 
QuSque jaces, circum mulcebit lene siisurrans 

Aura, per humentes corpora fusa rosas. 
Nee me (crede mihi) terrent Semeleia fata, 

IsTee Phaetonteo fumidus axis equo ; 
Cum tu, Phoebe, tuo sapientius uteris igni. 

Hue ades, et gremio lamina pone meo. 
Sic Tellus lasciva suos susjnrat amores ; 

Matris in exeraplum castera turba ruunt. 
Nunc etenim toto eurrit vagus orbe Cupido, 

Languentesque fovet solis ab igne faces. 
Insonuere novis lethalia cornua nervis, 

Triste micant ferro tela corusca novo, 
Jaraque vel invictam tentat superasse Dianam, 

Quaeque sedet sacro Vesta pudica foco. 
Ipsa senescentera reparat Venus annua formam, 

Atque iterum tepido creditur orta mari. 
Marmoreas juvenes clamant Hymensee per urbes, 

Littus lo Hymen, et cava saxa sonant. 
Cultior ille venit, tunicaque decentior apta, 

Puniceum redolet vestis odora crocum. 
Egrediturque frequens ad amceni gaudia veris 

Virgineos auro cincta puella sinus. [unum, 

Votum est cuique suum, votura est tamen omnibus 

Ut sibi quem cupiat, det Cytherea virum. 
Nunc quoque septena modulatur arundine pastor, 

Et sua quae jungat carmina Phyllis habet. 
Navita nocturno placat sua sidera cantu, 

Delphinasque leves ad vada summa vocat. 
Jupiter ipse alto cum conjuge ludit Olympo, 

Convocat et famulos ad sua festa Deos. 
Nunc etiam Satyri, cum sera crcpuscula surgnnt, 

Pervolitant celeri florea rura choro, 
Sylvanusque sua cyparissi fronde revinctus, 

Semicaperque Deus, semideusque caper. 
Quaeque sub arboribus Dryades latuere vetustia 

Per juga, per solos expatiantur agros. 
Per sata luxuriat fruticetaque Maenalius Pan, 

Vix Cybele mater, vix sibi tuta Ceres ; 



ELEGIARITM LTBKR PRIMUS. 525 

Atqiie aliqnam cnj^irlas prredntiir Oronda Fniinus, 

Consiilit in trcpidos dum sibi nymjiha pedes, 
Jamque latet, latitansqne cupit male tecta videri, 

Et fngit, et fngiens pervelit ipsa capi, 
Dii qnoque non dubitant coelo prreponere sylvag, 

Et sua qiiisque sibi numina lucus habet. 
Et sua quisquc diu sibi numina luous habeto, 

Nee vos arborea, dii, preeor, ite domo. 
Te referant miseris te, Jupiter, aurea terris 

Sa?cla, quid ad nimbos aspera tela redis? 
Tu saltern \ontb rapidos age Phoebe jugales 

Qua potes, et seiisim tempora veris eant ; 
Brumaque produetas tardeferat hispida noctes, 

Ingruat et nostro serior umbra polo. 



ELEGIA SEXTA. 

Ad Carolum Deoimtttm ruri commnrantem, 

Qui cum Idibiis Deremb. scripsisset, et sria carmina evcysari postulastet 
ti soUto mimis essent bona, qvod inter InutH.ias, qw'bi/'^ erat ab amicia 
exceptiif, hand satis felicern opernm Musis dare se posse afflrmabat, hoe 
}iabuit respons^im. 

MiTTO tibi sanam non pleno ventre salutem, 

Qua tu distento fort6 carere potes. 
At tua quid nostrara prolectat musa camcenam, 

Nee sinit optatas posse sequi tenebras? 
Carmine scire velis quam te rednmemque colamque, 

Crede mihi vix hoc carmine scire queas. 
Nam neque noster amor modulis includitur arctis, 

Nee venit ad claudos integor i])8e pedes. 
Quam bene solennes epulas, hilaremqne Decembrem, 

Festaque coelifugam qure coluere Deum, 
Deliciasque refers, hyberni gaudia ruris, 

Haustaque per lepidos Gallica musta focos I 
Quid quereris refugam vino dapibusque poesin ? 

Carmen am at Bacchum, carmina Bacchus amat. 
Nee piiduit Phoebum virides gcstasse corymbos, 

Atque hederam lauro pr»posuisse suae. 
Saepius Aoniis clamavit collibus Euoe 

Mista Thyoneo turba novena chore. 



626 BLEGIARUM LIBER PRIMUS. 

Naso Curallfeis mala carmina misit ab agris • 

Non illic epu.ae, non sata vitis erant. 
Quid nisi vina, rosasque r;tcemiferuraque Lyaeum, 

Cantavit brevibus Teia Musa modis ? 
Pindaricosque inflat numeros Teumesius Euan, 

Et redolet sumptum pagina qufeque merum ; 
Dum gravis everso currus crej^at axe supinus, 

Et vol at Elco pulvere fuscus eques. 
Quadrimoque madens Lyricen Romanus laccho 

Dulce canit Glyceran, flavicomamque Chloen, 
Jam quoque lauta tibi generoso mensa paratu 

Mentis alit vires, ingeniumque fovet. 
Massica fcecundam despumant pocula venam, 

Fundis et ex ipso condita metra cado. 
Addimus his artes, fusumque per intima Phcebum 

Corda, favent uni Bacclius, Apollo, Ceres. 
Scilicet baud mirum tarn dulcia carmina per te 

Numine composite tres peperisse Deos. 
Nunc quoqud Thressa tibi caelato barbitos auro 

Insonat arguta molliter icta manu ; 
Auditurque chelys suspensa taj^etia circum, 

Virgineos tremula qua? regat arte pedes. 
Ilia tuas saltern teneant spectacula musas, 

Et revocent, quantum orapula pellit iners, 
Crede mihi dum psnllit ebur, comitataque plectrum 

Implet odoratos festa chorea tholos ; 
V Percipies tacitum per pectora serpere Phcebum, 

Quale repentinus permeat ossa calor, 
Perque puellares oculos digitumque sonantem 

Irruet in totos lapsa Thalia sinus. 
Namque elegia levis multorum cura Deorum est, 

Et vocat ad numei'os quemlibet ilia sues ; 
Liber adest elegis, Eratoque, Ceresque, Venusque, 

Et cum purpurea matre tenellus Amor. 
Talibus inde licent convivia larga poetis, 

Sajpius et veteri commaduisse mero. 
At qui bella refert, et adulto sub Jove caelum, 

Heroasque pios, semideosque duces, 
Et nunc sancta canit superura consulta deorum, 

Nunc latrata fero regna profunda cane, 



BLE6IARUM LIBER PBIMUS. 527 

Die quidcm parcel, Samii pro more magistri, 

Vivat, et innocuos ])rjebeat herba cibos ; 
Stet prope fagineo pellucida lympha catillo, 

Sobriaque S puro pocula fonte bibat. 
Additur liuic scelerisque vacans, et casta juventus, 

Et rigidi mores, et sine labe nianiis. 
Qualis veste nitcns sacra, et lustralibus undis 

Surgis ad infensos augur iture Decs. 
Hoc ritu vixisse ferunt post rajita sagacem 

Lumina Tiresian, Ogygiumque Linon, 
Et lare dcvoto profuguin Calchanta, senemque 

Orpheoc edomitis sola per antra feris ; 
Sic dapis exiguus, sic rivi potor ITomerus 

Dulichiuni vexit per freta longa virura, 
Et per raonstrificain Perseiae Phoebados aulam, 

Et vada foemiueis insidiosa sonis, 
Perque tuas, rex ime, doinos, ubi sanguine nigro 

Dicitur umbrarum detinuisse gi'egea. 
Diis etenim sacer est vates, divtimque sacerdos, 

Spirat et occultura pectus, et ora Jovem. 
At tu, siquid agara, scitabere (si niodo saltern 

Esse putas tanti noscere si<]uid agam). 
Paciferuni caniraus ccelesti semine regem, 

Faustaque sacratis ssecula pacta libris, 
Vagitumque Dei, ot stabulantem ])aupere tecto 

Qui suprema suo cum patre regna colit, 
Stelliparumque polum, modulantesque sethere turmas, 

Et subito elisos ad sua fana Deos. 
Dona quidem dedimus Christi natalibns ilia. 

Ilia bvh aui'oram lux mihi prima tulit. 
Te quoquc pressa manent patriis meditata cicutia, 

Tu mihi, cui recitem, judicis instar eris. 



ELEGIA SEPTIMA. 
Anno ^tatib 19. 

NoNDTTM blanda tuas leges, Amathusia, n&ram 
Et Papbio vacuum pectus ab igne fuit. 



628 HLHGIAKTIM LIBER PRIMUS. 

Ssepe cupidineas, puerilia tela, sagittas, 

Atque tuiim sprevi inaxime numen Amor, 
Tu puer imbelles, dixi, transfige columbas, 

Conveniunt tenero mollia bella duci. 
Aut de passeribus turnidos age, parve, triiimpnos, 

Hsec sunt militiae digna tropha?a tvise. 
In genus human iim quid inania dirigis arma? 

Non valet in fortes ista pharetra viros. 
Non tulit hoc Cyprius (neque enitn Deus ullus ad Iraa 

Promptior), et duplici jam ferns igne calet. 
Ver erat, et summae radians per culmina villoe 

Attulerat primam lux tibi, Male, diem : 
At raihi adliuc refugam qiiferebant lumina noctem, 

Nee niatutinum eustinuere jubar. 
Astat Amor lecto, pictis Amor impiger alls, 

Prodidit astantem mota pharetra Deuri 
Prodidit et facies, et dulce minantis ocelli, 

Et quicquid puero dignum et Amore fuit. 
Talis in asterno juvenis Sigeiua Olympo 

Miscet amatori pocula plena Jovi ; 
Aut qui formosas pellexit ad oscula nymphas 

Thiodamanta?us Naiade raptus Hylas. 
Addideratque iras, sed et has decuisse putares, 

Addideratque truces, nee sine felle minas. 
Et miser exemplo sapuisses tutitis, inquit, 

Nunc mea quid possit dextera testis eris. 
Inter et expertos vires nuraerabere nostras, 

Et faciam vero per tua damna fidem. 
Ipse ego, si nescis, strato Pythone superbum 

Edomui Phoebum, cessit et ille mihi; 
Et quoties meminit Peneidos, ipse fatetur 

Certitis et gravitis tela nocere mea. 
Me nequit adductum curvare peritids arcum, 

Qui post terga solet vincere Parthus eques : 
Cydoniusque raihi cedit venator, et ille 

Inscius uxori qui necis author erat. 
Est etiam nobis ingens quoque victus Orion, 

Herculejeque manus, Herculcusque comes. 
Jupiter ipse licet sua fulmina torqueat in me, 

Haerebunt Interi spicula nosti*a Jovis. 



KLEGIAKUM LIHER PRIMUS. 529 

Caetera quae dubitas iiieliCis niea tela ducebunt, 

Et tiia non leviter corda potonda milii. 
Nee te, stidte, tua? potennit dofoiuk'rc nuisse, 

Nee tibl Pho'bajus porriget aiiguis opem. 
Dixit, et aurato quaticns nuierone sagittam, 

Evolat in tepidos Cypridos ille sinus. 
At niilii risuro tonuit ft-rns ore niinaei, 

Et niibi de pnero non nictus ullus erat. 
Et modo qna nostri spntiantur in urbe Quirites, 

Y.t modo villariini proxinia rura plaeent. 
Tnrba fvo(|uens, faeioque siinillinia turba dearum 

Splendida per nicdias itque reditcpie vias. 
Auctaque hice dies gonnno fulgore eoruscat, 

Fallor? An et radios bine qnoque Pba-bus babet? 
Usee ego non fngi spectacula grata severus, 

Im])etus et quo me fert juvenilis, agor, 
Lumina himinibus male providus obvia misi, 

Neve oeulos ])otui eontinuisse meos. 
tJnani forte aliis snpereniinuisse notabam, 

Principium nostri hix erat iHa niali. 
Sie Venus optaret mortalibus i])sa videri 

Sic regina Deflm consjiieienda fuit. 
Hanc menior objeeit nobis niahis ille Cnjiido, 

Solus et bos nobis texuit ant^ dolos. 
Nee procul ipse vafer latiiit, nndta'<jue sagittae, 

Et facis a tcrgo grande pependit onus. 
Nee mora, nujie eiliis luesit, nunc virginis ori. 

Insilit bine labiis, insidet inde genis : 
Et quaseunque agilis partes jaeulator oberrat, 

Ilei mibi, niille locis pectus inernie ferit. 
Protinus insoliti subierunt corda furores, 

Uror amans intfis, flammaque totus eram. 
Intorea misero qufe jam mibi sola jdacebat, 

Ablata est oculis non reditura meia. 
Ast ego progredior tacitd qiierebundus, et excore, 

Et dubius volui saepe referre pedem 
Finder, et baec renianet, secjuitur jiars altera votam, 

Raptaque tam subito gaudia Here juvat. 
Sic dolet airiissum proles Junonia eci'lum, 

Inter Lemniacos praecipitata feces. 
34 



630 KLEGIARTJM LIBER PRIMUS. 

Talis et abreptura solem respexit, ad Orcum 

Vectus ab attonitis Amphiaraus equis. 
Quid faciam infelix, et luctu victus ? Amorea 

Nee licet inceptos ponere, neve sequi. 
O utinam, spectare semel mihi detur amatos 

Vultus, et coram tristia verba loqui ! 
Forsitan et duro non est adamante creata, 

Forte nee ad nostras surdeat ilia preces. 
Crede milii, null us sic infeliciter arsit, 

Ponar in exemplo primus et unus ego. 
Parce, precor, teneri cum sis Deus ales amoris,. 

Pugnent officio nee tua facta tuo. 
Jam tuus O cert^ est mihi formidabilis arcus, 

Nate dea, jaculis nee minus ijrne potens : 
Et tua fumabunt nostris altaria donis, 

Solus et in superis tu mihi summus eris. 
Deme meos tandem, vertim nee deme, furores, 

Nescio cur, raiser est suaviter omnis amans : 
Tu modo da facilis, posthaoc mea siqua futura est 

Cuspis amaturos figat ut una duos. 



Hjec ego mente olim laeva, studioque supine, 

NequitifB posui vana trophoea meae. 
Scilicet abreptum sic me mains impnlit error, 

Indocilisque aetas prava magistra fuit. 
Donee Socraticos umbrosa Academia rivos 

Praebuit, admissum dedocuitque jugum. 
Protinus extinctis ex illo temi)ore flammis, 

Cincta rigent raulto pectora nostra gelu. 
Unde suis frigus metuit puer ipse sagittis, 

Et Diomedcam vim timet ipsa Venus. 



CfigTamnintinn Xihtr. 



IN PRODITIONEM BOMBARDICAM. 

Cum simul in regeni mi}»er satrapasque Britannoi 

Ausus es infaudum, pertide Fauxe, nefas, 
Fallor? An et niitis voluisti ex parte videri, 

Et pensare mala cum jiietate sceliis ? 
Scilicet hos alti missurus ad atria coeli, 

Sulpbureo curru Hammivolisque rotis. 
Qualiter ille feris caput inviolabile Parcis 

Liquit lordanios turbine raptus agros. 



IN EANDEM. 

SicciNE tentasti ccelo donasse lacobum 

Quae septemgemino Bellua monte lates? 
Ni meliora tuum poterit dare munera numen. 

Parce precor donis insidiosa tuis. 
nie quidem sine te consortia serus adivit 

Astra, nee inferni pulveris usus o])e. 
Sic potitis fcedos in ccelum pelle cucuUos, 

Et quot babet brutos Roma profaua Deos, 
Namque hac aut alia nisi quemque adjuveris art«| 

Crede mihi, coeli vix bene scandet iter. 



IN EANDEM. 

PuROATOKBM animje derisit lacobus ignem, 
Et sine quo superftm non adeunda domus. 

Frenduit 1k)C trinu monstrum Latiale corona, 
Movit et horrificum cornua dena minax. 

(63J) 



632 EPIGKAMMATUM LIBEE. 

Et nec inultus, ait, temnes mea sacra Britanne 

Supplicium spreta religione dabis. 
Et si stelligeras unquain penetraviris arces, 

Nou nisi per flaninias triste patebit iter. 
O quam funesto cecinisti proxima vero, 

Verbaque ])Oii<leribus vix earitura suis ! 
Nam prope Tartareo sublime rotatus ab igni 

Ibat ad a?thereas umbra perusta plagas. 



IN EANDEM. 



Qtjem modo Roma suis devoverat impia diris, 
Et Styge damnarat T»narioque siiiu, 

Hunc vice mutata jam tollere gestit ad astra, 
Et cupit ad superos eveliere usque Deos. 



IN INVENTOREM BOiMBARDJB. 

Iapbtionidkm laudavit caica vetustas, 
Qui tulit ajtlieream solis ab axe facem ; 

At mihi major erit, qui lurida creditur arma, 
Et trifidum fuhnen surripuisse Jovi. 



AD LEONORAM ROM^ CANENTEM 

Angelus unicuique suus (sic crcdite gentes) 

Obtigit a3tbercis ales ab ordinibus. 
Quid mirum, Leonora, tibi si gloria major? 

Nam tua praisentem vox sonat ipsa Deum. 
Aut Deus, aut vacui cert6 mens tertia coeli, 

Per tua seci'eto guttura serpit ageiis; 
Serpit agens, facilisque docet mortalia corda 

Sensim immortali assuescere posse sono. 
Quod si cuncta quidem Deus est, per cunctaqu' 

In te una loquitur, caetera mutus habet. 



SPIOKAMMATUM LIBKR. 53£ 

AD EAXDEM. 

Altera Torquatum cepit Leonora poetain, 

Cajus ab insane cessit ainore furena. 
Ah miser ille tuo qunnlo felicifis aevo 

Perflit.us, et propter te, Leonora, foret I 
Et te Pieria. sensisset voce canentem 

Aurea niateruje tila movere lyrjs : 
^uamvis Dircajo torsisset lumina Pentheo 

Saevior, aut lotus <lesij)uisset iners, 
?u tamen errantes cajca vertigine sensus 

Voce eadem poteras composuisse tua; 
St potei-as, <egro s])irans sub corde, quietem 

Flexanimo cantu restituisse sibi. 



AD EANDEM. 

C-AEDULA quid liquidam Sirena Neapoli jactas, 

Claraque Parthenopes fana Acheloiados, 
Littoreamque tua defuncLam Naiada ripa, 

Oorpora Chalcidico sacra dedisse rogo ? 
Ilia quidom vivitque, et amoena Tibridis unda 

Mutavit rauci niunnura Pausilipi. 
Ulic Romulidum studiis ornata secundis, 

Atque homines cantu detinet atque Decs. 



APOLOGUS DE RUSTICO ET HERO. 

RtrsTiCTis ex malo sapidissima poma quotannis 

Legit, et nrbano lecta dedit Domino : 
Hinc incredibili fructfis dulcedine ca))tus, 

Malum ipsara in proprias transtulit areolaa. 
Hactenus ilia ferax, sed longo debilis asvo, 

Mota solo assueto, protiniis aret iners. 
Quod tandem ut patuit Domino, spe lusus inani, 

Damnavit celercs in sua damna manus. 
Atmie ait, " lieu quanto satius fuit ilia Coloni 

(Parva licet) grato dona tulisse aniino I 
Possem ego avaritiam fraenare, gulamque voracem 

Nunc periere mihi et foetus, et ipse parens." 



S^lnarnm liter. 



IN OBITUM PROCANCELLARII MEDICL 

Anno -^tatis, 16. 

Pareek fati discite legibus, 

Manusque Pareae jam date supplices, 
Qui pendulum telluris orbem 

lapeti colitis nepotes. 
Vos si relicto mors vaga Taenaro 
Serael vocarit flebilis, heu morae 
Tentantur incasstim dolique ; 

Per tenebras Stygis ire certum est. 
Si destinatam pellere dextera 
Mortem valeret, non ferus Hercules, 
Nessi venenatus cruore 
^matliia jacuisset Oeta, 
Nee fraude tur])i Palladis invidae 
Vidisset occisum Ilion Hectora, aut 
Quern larva Pelidis peremit 
Ense Locro, Jove lacrymante. 
Si triste fatura verba Hecateia 
Fugare possint, Telegoni parens 
Vixisset infamis, potentique 
^giali soror usa virga. 
Numenque trinum fallere si queant 
Artes medentftm, ignotaque gramina, 
Non gnarus herbarum Machaon 
Eurypyli cecidisset basta. 

(534) 



8YLVABUM LIBEB. 535 



Lsesisset et nee te, Philyreie, 
Sagitta Echidnae perlita sanguine, 
Nee tela te fulmenque avitum 
Ciese ])uer genitricis alvo. 
Tuque O aluuino major Apolline, 
Gentis togataj eui regimen datum, 
Frondosa quern nunc Cirrha luget, 
Et mediis Helicon in undis, 
Jam praefuisses Palladio gregi 
Laetus, su})erstes, nee sine gloria, 
Nee puj)pe lustrasses Charoutia 
Horribiles barathri recessus. 
At fila rupit Persephone tua, 
Irata, cum te viderit, artibus, 
Succoque poUenti, tot atris 
Faucibxis eripuisse mortis. 
Colende Praeses, membra precor tua 
Molli quiescant eespite, et ex tuo 
Crescant rosae caltha?que busto, 
Purpureoque hyacinthus ore. 
Sit mite de te judicium ^aei, 
Subrideatque ^tnaea Proserpina, 
Interque felices perennis 
Elysio spatiere campo, 



IN QUINTUM NOVEMBRIS. 

Anno ^tatis 17. 

Jam pius extrema veniens lacobus ab arcto 
Teucrigenas populos, lateque })atentia regna 
Albionum tenuit, jamque inviolabile fcedus 
Scejitra Caledoniis conjunxerat Anglica Scotis: 
Pacifiousque novo, felix divesque, sedebat 
In solio, occultique doli securus et hostis : 
Cum ferns ignifluo regnans Acheronte tyrannus, 
Eumenidum ]>ater, a^thereo vagus* exul Olympo, 
Forte per immensum torrarum erraverat orbem, 
Dinumeraus sceleris socios, vernasque fideles. 



636 STLVARUM LIBER, 

Participes regni post funera mcesta futures ; 
Hie tempestates medio ciet aere cliras, 
Illic nnanimes odium struit inter amicos, 
Armat et in^ictas in mutua viscera gentes ; 
Regnaque olivifera vertit florentia pace : 
Et quoscunque videt jmrte virtutis amantes, 
Hos cupit adjicere imperio, fraudumque magister 
Tentat inaccessum sceleri corrumpere pectus, 
Insidiasque locat tacitas, cassesque latentes 
Tendit, ut incautos rapiat, sen Casjna tigris 
Insequitur trepidam deserta per avia praedam 
Nocte sub illuni, et somno nictantibus astris. 
Talibus infestat populos Summanus et urbee, 
Cinctus ceruleae fumanti turbine tiammffi, 
Jamque fiuentisouis albentia rupibus arva 
Apparent, et terra deo dilecta niarino, 
Cui nomen dederat quondam Nejitunia proles, 
Ampliitryoniaden qui non dubitavit atrocem, 
^quore tranato, furiali ]>oscere bello, 
Ante expugnatffi crudclia sacula Trojai. 

At simul lianc opibusque et festa pace beatam 
Aspicit, et pingues don is Cerealibus agros, 
Quodque magis doluit, venerantem numina veri 
Sancta Dei populuni, tandem suspiria rupit 
Tartareos ignes et luridum olentia suljihur ; 
Qualia Trinacria trux ab Jove clausus in JEtna 
Effiat tabifico monstrosus ob ore Typhojus. 
Ignescunt oculi, stridetque adamantinus ordo 
Dentis, ut armorum fragor, ictaque cuspide cuspisc 
Atqu6 " Pei-errato solum hoc lacrymabile mundo 
Inveni," dixit, "gens base mihi sola rebellis, 
Contemtrixque jugi, nostraque potentior arte. 
Ilia tamen, mea si quicquam tentamina possunt, • 
Non feret hoc imjtune diu, non ibit inulta." 
Hactenus ; et piceis liquido natat aere pennis ; 
Qua volat, adversi ])ra?cursant agmine venti, 
Densantur nubes, et crebra tonitrua fulgent. 

Jamque pruinosas velox superaverat Alpes, 
Et tenet Ausonite fines : a parte sinistra 
Nimbifer Apj^enninus erat, priscique Sabini, 



8YLVARUM LIBKK. 537 

Dextra veneficiis infamis Hetruria, nee non 
Te furtiva, Tibris, Tlietidi videt osciila dantem ; 
Hinc jNIavortiiLifeiKiB consistit in arce Qiiirini. 
Reddiderant dubiam jam sera cropuseula lucem, 
Cum circnungrc'ditur totam Tricoronifer urbem, 
Panifii'osqne decs portat, scapulisque virorum 
Evehitur, prreount eubmisso poplite reges, 
Et mendicaiilum series longissima fratrum ; 
Corea(jue in manilnis gestant fiiiialia cJBci, 
Cimmeriis nati in tenebris, vitanique trahentes. 
Templa dein multis subount luccntia tadis 
(Vesi>or erat sacer iste Petro) fi-emitnsque caneutum 
Sa^pe tholos im])lot vaciios, et inane locurum. 
Qualiter exululat Bromius, Bromiique caterva, 
Orgia cantantes in Echionio Aracyntho, 
Dnm tremit attonitus vitreis Asopus in undis, 
Et procul ipse cava res]ionsat rupe Citbaerou. 

Ilis igitur tandem solenni more peractis, 
Nox senis amplexus Erebi taciturna reliquit, 
PraBci])itesqvie iinj^ellit equos stimulante Hagello, 
Cajitiun oculis Ty]»ldonta, Melancliietemque feroeem, 
Atque Acberontreo prognatam jiatre Sioi)en 
Torpidam, et lursutis lu)rrentem Plirica capillis. 

Interea regum domitor, Phlegetontius baeres 
Ingreditur tlialamos (noque enini secretus adulter 
Producit steribis niolli sine pellice noctes), 
At vix comjiositos somnus chiudebat oeellos, 
Cum niger unibrarnm dominus, rectorque silentum. 
Pra^dalorque liominum, falsa sub imagine tectus 
Astitit, assuni))tis micuerunt temj)ora canis, 
Barba sinus ])i-()missa tegit, cineracea longo 
Syrmate verrit bumum vestis, ])endetque cucuUus 
V ertice de raso, et ne quicquam desit ad artes, 
Cannabeo lumbos constrinxit funo salaces, 
Tarda fenestratis tigens vestigia calceis. 
Talis, uti fama est, vasta Franciscus eremo 
Tetra vagabatur solus |)or lustra ferarum, 
Sylvestrique tulit genti pia verba salutis 
Impius, atque lupus domuit, Libycosque leone*. 

Subdolus at tali Serpens velatus amictu 



538 sylvabttm: libee. 

Solvit in has fallax ora execrantia voces ; 
Dormis, nate? Etiamne tuos sopor opprimit artus? 
Immemor O fidei, pecorumque oblite tuorum ! 
Dum cathedram venerande tuam, diademaque triplex 
Ridet Hyperboreo gens barbara nata sub axe, 
Dumque pbaretrati spernunt tua jura Britanni : 
Surge, age, surge piger, Latius quern Caesar adorat, 
Cui reserata patet convexi janua cceli, 
Turgentes aniraos, et fastus frange procaces, 
Sacrilegique sciant, tua quid maledictio possit, 
Et quid ApostoIicaB possit custodia clavis ; 
Et memor Hesperi^e disjectam ulciscere classem, 
Mersaque Iberorum lato vexilla profundo, 
Sanctorumque cruci tot corpora fixa probrosaB, 
Thermodoontea nuper regnante puella. 
At tu si tenero mavis torpescere lecto, 
Crescentesque negas hosti contundere vires, 
Tyrrhenum implebit numeroso milite pontum, 
Signaque Aventino ponet fulgentia colle : 
Reliquias veterura franget, flanimisque cremabit, 
Sacraque calcabit pedibus tua colla i)rofani8, 
Cujus gaudebant soleis dare basia reges. 
Nee tamen hunc bellis et aperto Marte lacesses, 
Irritus ille labor : tu callidus utere fraude : 
Quselibet bcereticis disponere retia fas est. 
Jamque ad consilium extremis rex magnus ab oris 
Patricios vocat, et procerum de stirpe creatos, 
Grandaevosque patres trabea canisque verendos ; 
Hos tu membratim poteris conspergcre in auras, 
Atque dare in cinei-es, nitrati pulveris igne 
^dibus injecto, qua convenere, sub imis. 
Protinus ipse igitur quoscunque habet Anglia fidos 
Propositi, factique mone : quisquamne tuorum 
Audebit summi non jussa facessere Papae ? 
Perculsosque nietu subito, caslique stui)entes 
Invadat vel Gallus atrox, vel sasvus Iberus. 
Saecula sic illic tandem Mariana redibunt, 
Tuque in belligeros iterura dominaberis Anglos. 
Et nequid timeas, divos divasque secundas 
Accipe, quotque tuis celebrautur numina fastis. 



BTLVABUM LIBER. 53d 

Dixit, et adscitoa ponens malefidus amictus 
Fugit ad infandam, regnum ilhetabile, Lethen. 

Jam rosea P^oas, pandcMis Tithonia portas, 
Vestit inauratas redeunti lumine terras ; 
Mciestaque adhuc nigri deplorans fimera uati 
Irrigat ambrosiis montana cacumina guttis ; 
Cum somnos pepulit stellatae janitor aulae, 
Nocturnos visas, et somnia grata revolvens. 

Est Iccus aiterna septus caligine noctis, 
Vasta ruinosi quondam fundamina tecti, 
Nunc torvi spelunca Phoni, Prodotneque bilinguis, 
Effera quos uno peperit Discordia partu. 
Hie inter casmenta jacent praeruptaque saxa, 
Ossa inhutnata virAm, et trajecta cadavera ferro ; 
Hie Dolus intortis semper sedet ater ocellis, 
Jurgiaque, et stimulis armata Calumnia fauces, 
Et Furor, atque viaa moriendi mille vidcntur, 
Et Timor, exsanguisque locum circumvolat Horror, 
Perpetuoque leves per rauta silentia Manes 
Exululant, tellus et sanguine couscia stagnat. 
Ipsi etiam pavidi latitant penetralibus antri 
Et Phonos, et Prodotes, nulloque sequente per antrum, 
Antrum horrens, scopulosum, atrum feralibus umbris 
Diffugiiint sontes, et retro luraina vortunt; 
Hos ])ugiles RomaB per esECula longa fideles 
Evocat antistes Babylonius, atque ita fatur: 

" Finibua occiduis circumfusum incolit aequor 
Gens exosa mihi, prudens natura negavit 
Indignam penitus nostro conjungere mundo: 
Illuc, sic jubeo, eeleri contendite gressu, 
Tartareoque leves difflentur ]>ulvere in auras 
Et rex et pariter satrapoe, scolerata propago : 
Et quotquot fidei caluere cupidine verae, 
Consilii socios adhibete, operisque ministros." 
Finierat, rigid! cupid6 paruere goraelli. 

Interea longo flectens curvamine coelos 
Despioit aetherea dominus qui fulgurat arce, 
Vanaque perversae ridet conamina turbae, 
Atque sui causam populi volet ipse tuori. 

Esse ferunt spatiuin, qu^ distat ab Aside terra 



540 STLVAKUM LIBER. 

Fertilis Europe, et spectat Mareotidas undas ; 
Hie turris posita est Titanidos ardua Faiuie, 
^rea, lata, sonans, rutilis vicinior astris 
Quatn superinipositum vel Athos vel Pelion Ossae. 
Mille fores aditusque patent, totidemque fenestraB, 
Amplaque per tenues translucent atria muros : 
Excitat hie varios plebs agglomerata suaurros ; 
Qualiter instrepitant circum mulctralia bombia 
Agmina muscarum, aut texto per ovilia junco, 
Dum Canis aestivum cceli petit ardua culnien. 
Ipsa quidem suraraa sedet ultrix matris in area, 
Auribus innumeris cinctum caput eniinet oUi, 
Quels sonitum exiguum trabit, atque levissima captat 
Murmura, ab extremis patuli confiuibus orbis. 
Nee tot, Aristoride servator inique juvencjB 
Isidos, immiti volvebas luniina vultu, 
Luraina non unquam tacito nutantia soinno, 
Luniina subjectas late spectantia terras. 
Istis ilia Holet loca luce carentia sa?])e 
Perlustrare, etiani radianti inipervia soli: 
Millenisque loquax auditaque visaque Unguis 
Cuilibet effundit tenieraria, vera(}ue menclax 
Nunc minuit, modo confictis sermon ibus auget. 
Sed tamen a nostro meruisti carmine laudes 
Fama, bonum quo non aliud veracius uUum, 
Nobis digna cani, nee te meniorasse pigebit 
Carmine tam longo, servati scilicet Angli 
Officiis vaga diva tuis, tibi reddimus a9qua. 
Te Deus, seternos motu qui tem])erat ignes, 
Fulmine praemisso alloquitur, ternique tremente: 
"Fama, siles? An te lutet impia P:ij)istarura 
Conjurata cohors in meque meosque Britannos, 
Et nova sceptrigero cjedes meditata lacobo ? 
Nee plura, ilia statim sensit matidata Tonautis, 
Et satis ante fugax stridentes induit alas, 
Induit et variis exilia corpora pluniis; 
Dextra tubam gestat Temesaeo ex aire sonoram. 
Nee mora, jam pennis cedentes remigat auras, 
Atque parum est cursu celeres pra3vertere nubes. 
Jam ventos, jam soils equos post terga reliquit : 



8YLVARUM LrBKB. 541 

Et priino Angliacas, solito <le mure, per iirbes 
Ambiguas voces, incertaque miinnura spargit, 
Mox arguta dolus, et detestabilo vulgat 
Proditioiiis opus, nee non facta honiila dictu, 
Autboresque add it sceleris, neo garrula eaecis 
Insidiis loca structa silet ; stupucre relalis, 
Et pariter juvenes, ]>ariter treimiere puellae, 
Effietique senes pariter, tantnoque niinaB 
Sensus ad retatem subito peiietraverat omnem. 

Attanien iiiterea poj>uli misereseit ab alto 
^thereus Pater, et crudelibus obstitit ausis 
Papicolum ; capti ptenas raptantur ad acres ; 
At pia thura Deo, et grati solvuiitur bonores ; 
Compita beta focis genialibus omnia fumant; 
Turba cboros juvenilis agit : Quintoque Novembris 
Nulla dies toto occurrit celebratior anno. 



m OBITUIM PR.'ESULIS ELIENSIS. 
Anno iExATis 17. 

Adhuc madentes rore squalebant genas, 

Et sicca nondum lumina 
Adbuc liquentis inibre turgebant salis, 

Quern nuper effudi pius, 
Dnm mrrsta cbaro justa pcrsolvi rogo 

Wintonicnsis Pnesulis. 
Cum centilinguis Kama (prob ! semper mali 

Cladisque vera nuntia) 
Spargit per urbes divitis Britannia, 

Populosque Neptuno satos, 
Cessisse morti, et ferreis sororibus 

Te, generis bumani decus, 
Qui rex sacrorum ilia fnisti in insulfi 

Quae nomen AngnilUe tenet. 
Tunc inquietum pectus ira protinus 

EbuUiebat fervida, 
Tumulis potentem sjepe devovens deam : 

Nee vota Naso in Ibida 



642 STLVABUM LIBKB. 

Concepit alto diriora pectore, 

Graiusqiae vates parciixs 
Turpem Lycambis execratus est dolum, 

Sponsamque Neobulen suam. 
At ecce divas ipse dura fundo graves, 

Et iraprecor neci necem, 
Audisse tales videor attonitus sonos 

Leni, sub aura, flamine : 
" Caecos furores pone, pone vitream 

Bilemque et irritas minas, 
Quid temerd violas non nocenda numina, 

Subitoque ad iras percita? 
Non est, ut arbitraris elusus miser, 

Mors atra Noctis filia, 
Erebove patre creta, sive Erinnye, 

Vastove nata sub Chao : 
Ast ilia ccelo luissa stellato, Dei 

Messes ubiqiae colligit ; 
Aniraasque mole carnea reconditas 

In lucem et auras evocat ; 
Ut cum fugaces excitant Horae diem 

Themidos Jovisque tiliae ; 
Et semjyiterni ducit ad vultus patris ; 

At justa raptat irapios 
Sub regna furvi luctuosa Tartari, 

Sedesque subterraneas." 
Hanc ut vocantera laetus audivi, cito 

Fosdum reliqui carcerem, 
Volatilesque faustus inter milites 

Ad astra sublimis feror : 
Vates ut olim raptus ad ccelum senex 

Auriga currus ignei. 
Non me Bootis terruere lucidi 

Sarraca tarda frigore, aut 
Formidolosi Scorpionis brachia, 

Non ensis, Orion, tuus. 
Prsetervolavi fulgidi solis globum, 

Longeque sub pedibus deam 
Vidi triformem, dum coercebat sue* 

Fraenis dracones aureia. 



SYLVARUM LIBEB. 543 

Erraticorum siderura per ordiues, 

Per lacteas vehor plagas, 
Velocitatcin sa'pe miratiiB novam, 

Donee niteiitcs ad fores 
Ventum est Olynijii^ et regiam crystallmam, et 

Stratum smaragdis atrium. 
8ed hie taeebo, nam quis effari queat 

Oriundus humaiio patre 
Amceuitates illiub loci? Mihi 

Sat est in aeternum frui. 



NATURAM NON PATI SENIUM. 

Hku quam perpetiiis erroribus acta fatiscit 

Avia mens hominum, tenebrisque immersa profuiidia 

CEdipodioniam volvit sub pectore noetem ! 

Quae vesana suis metiri facta deorum 

Audet, et incisas leges adamante perenni 

Assimilare suis, nulloque solubile saeclo 

Consilium fati perituris alligat lioris. 

Ergone marcescet sulcantibus obsita rugis 
Naturae facies, et rerum j)ublica mater 
Omniparum contracta uterum sterilescet ab aevo? 
Et se fassa senem, male certis passibus ibit 
Sidereum tremebuuda caput? Num tetra vetusta* 
Annorumque asterna fames, squalorque situsque 
Sidera vexabunt? An et insatiabile Tompus 
Esuriet V?a4um, rapietque in viscera patrem ? 
lieu, potuitne suas imprudens Jupiter arces 
Hoc contra munisse nefas, et Temporis isto 
Exemisse raalo, gyrosque dedisse perennes? 
Ergo erit ut quandoque sono dilapsa treraendo 
Convex! tabulata ruant, atque obvius ictu 
Stridat uterque polus, superaque ut Olympius aulA 
Decidat, horril»ilisque retecta Gorgone Pallas; 
Qualis in ^geam proles Junonia Leranon 
Deturbata sacro cecidit de limine cceli? 
Tu quoque, Phoebe, tui casus unitabere nati ; 



544 STL VARUM LIBER. 

Praeciplti currii, snhitaqne ferere rninS 
Pronus, et extincta fumabit lampade Nereus, 
Et dabit attonito feralia sibila ponto. 
Tunc etiara aerei divulsis sedibus Hasmi 
Dissultabit apex, imoqiie allisa barathro 
Terrebunt Stygium dejecta Ceraiinia Ditem, 
In superos qnibns us^^s erat, frsternaqne bella. 
At Pater omnipotens, fundatis fortius astris, 
Consnluit rerum snmmse, certoque peregit 
Pondere fatorum lances, atque ordine summo 
Singula perpetuum jussit servare tenorem. 
Volvitur hinc lapsu mundi rota prima diurno ; 
Raptat et ambitos socia vertigine ccelos. 
Tardior baud solito Saturnus, et acer ut olim 
Fulmineum rutilat cristata casside JVIavors. 
Floridus feterntim Pbffbus juvenile coruscat, 
Nee fovet effoetas loca per declivia terras 
Devexo tenione Deus ; sed semper arnica 
Luce potens eadem currit per sign a rot arum. 
Surgit odoratis pariter foi-niosus ab Indis, 
^tbereum pecus alljenti qui cogit Olympo, 
Mane vocans, et serus agens in pascua coeli, 
Temporis et gemino dis]>ertit regna colore. 
Fulget, obitque vices alterno Delia cornu, 
Caeruleumque ignem paribxxs complectitur ulnis. 
Nee variant elementa fidem, solitoque fragore 
Lurida perculsas jaculantur fulmina rupes. 
Nee per inane furit leviori murmure Corns, 
Stringit et arraiferos fequali horrore Gelonos 
Trux Aquilo, spiratque hyemem, nimbosque volutat. 
Utque solet, Siculi diverberat ima Pelori 
Rex maris, et rauca circumstrepit aequora conclifi 
Oceani Tubicen, nee vasta mole minorem 
^geona ferunt dorse Balearica cete, 
Sed neque, Terra, tibi saecli vigor ille vetusti 
Priscus abest, servatque suum Narcissus odorem, 
Et puer ille suum tenet et puer ille decorem, 
Phoebe, tuusque, et, Cypri, tuus ; nee ditior olim 
Terra datum sceleri celavit montibus aurum 
Conscia, vel sub aquis gemmas. Sic denique in aevum 



SYLVAKUM LIBER. 545 

Ibit cunctaruin series justissima rerum, 
Dor.ec tianima orbem poimlabitur ultima, lat^ 
Circumplexa polos, et vasti culmina ca*li ; 
Injijentique rogo flagrabit machiiia mundi. 



DE IDEA PLATONICA QUEMADMODUM ARISTO- 
TELES INTELLEXIT. 

DiciTE, sacrorum praesidoa nomomm deae, 
Tuque, O noveni perbeata numinis 
Memoritt mater, qua?que in immenso procul 
Antro reoumbis otiosa ^ternitas, 
MoTiumenta servans, et ratas leges Jo\'i8, 
Ccelique fastos atque ephemeridas Dedm, 
Quis ille primus cujus ex imagine 
Natura solers finxit humanum genus, 
^ternus, incorrnptus. aequjevus polo, 
Unusque et universus, exemplar Dei ? 
Haud ille Palladis gemellus inuubae 
Interna proles insidet menti Jovis ; 
Sed quamlibet natura sit communior, 
Tamen seorsiis extat ad morem unius, 
Et, raira, certo stringitur spatio loci ; 
Seu serapiternus ille siderum comes 
Coeli pererrat ordines deoemplicis, 
Citimumve terris incolit lunre globum : 
Sive inter animas corpus adituras sedens 
Obliviosas torpet ad Letlies aquas ; 
Sive in remota forte terrarum jilaga 
Incedit ingens hominis arcliety])us gigae, 
Et diis tremendus erigit celsum caput 
Atlanta major portitore siderum. 
Non cui profundum caacitas lumen dedit 
Dircaeus augur vidit hunc alto sinu ; 
Non hunc silente nocte PleVones nepos 
Vatum sagaci pra^jies ostendit choro ; 
Non hunc sacei'dos novit Assyrius, licet 
Longos vetusti commemoret atavos Nini, 
Pnscumque Belon, inclvtumque Osiridem. 
35 



546 SYLVARUM LIBEB. 

Non ille trino gloriosus nomine 

Ter magiius Ilernies (ut sit arcani sciens) 

Talem reliquit Isidis cultoribus. 

At tu, perenne ruris Academi decus 

(Haec monstra ei tu primus induxti scholis), 

Jam jam poetas, urbis exules tuae, 

Revocabis, ipse fabulator maximus, 

Aut institutor ipse migrabis foras. 



AD PATREM. 

Nunc mea Pierios cupiam per pectora fontes 
Irriguas torqnore vias, totumque per ora 
Volvere laxatum geinino de vertice rivum ; 
TJt tenues oblita sonos audacibus alis 
Surgat in officium venerandi Musa parentis. 
Hoc utcunqne tibi gratum, pater optime, carmen 
Exiguum nieditatur opus, nee novinius ipsi 
AptiCis a nobis quas possint munera donis 
Respondere tuis, quamvis nee maxima jjossint 
Res])ondere tuis, nedum ut par gratia donis 
Esse queat, vacuis quae redditur arida verbis. 
Sed tamen ba>c nostros ostendit pagina census, 
Et quod habemus opum charta numeravimus istS, 
Quae mihi sunt nullie, nisi quas dedit aurea Clio, 
Quas mihi semoto somni pej)erere sub antro, 
Et nemoris laurcta sacri Parnassides umbrae. 
Nee tu vatis o])as divinum despicc carmen. 
Quo nihil aethereos ortus, et semina coeli, 
Nil magis humanam commendat origine mentem, 
Sancta Promethere retinens vestigia tiammae. 
Carmen ament sujieri, tremebundaque Tartara carmen 
Iina ciere A^alet, divosque ligare profundos, 
Et tripliei duros Manes adainante coercet. 
Carmine sepositi retogunt arcana futuri 
Phoebades, et tromulae pallentes ora Sibyllae ; 
Carmina sacrificus sollennes pangit ad aras, 
Aurea sen sternit motantem cornua taurum ; 
Seu ctim fata sagax fumantibus abdita fibris 



8TLVAEUM LIBKE. 547 

Coiisulit, et te]>iilis Parcam scnitatur in extis. 
Nos eliain ])atriuin tunc einn rojiotoimis Olympum, 
^terna^(juo nione slabunl iininohilis levi, 
Ibimus auratis per cccli tenipla coronis, 
Dulcia suaviloquo sociantes cannina plectro, 
Astra quibus, geniiniqne ]»oli convexa sonabunt. 
Spiritns et raj)i(los qui circinat igneus orbes, 
Nunc quoque sidereis intevcinit ipse choreis 
Imniortale nielos, et ineiiarrabile carmen ; 
Torrida dum rutihis compescit sibila serpens, 
Deniissoque ferox gladio niansuescit Orion ; 
Stellarum nee sentit onus Maurusivis Atlas. 
Carmina regales epulas ornare solebant, 
Cnm nondum luxus, vastreque imniensa vorago 
Nota guljB, et niodico spuraabat coena Lyajo. 
Turn de more sedens festa ad convivia vates, 
iEsculea intonsos redimitus ab arbore crines, 
Ileroiimque actus, imitandaipie gesta canebat, 
Et cliaos, et positi late fundamiua muudi, 
Reptantesque deos, et alentes numina glandes, 
Et nondum ^tnjeo quassitum fiilmen ab antro. 
Denique (juid vocis modulamen inane juvabit, 
Verborum sensusque vacans, nunierique loquacis ? 
Silvestres dccet iste choros, non Orpliea cantus, 
Qui tenuit iiuvios ct quorcubus addidit aures 
Carmine, non citbarti, simulacbraque functa canendo 
Co»pulit in lacrymas ; habet has a carmine laudes. 

Nee tu perge, precor, sacras contemnere Musas, 
Nee vauas inopesque puta, quarum ipse peritus 
Munere, mille sonos numeros componis ad aptOB, 
MilUbus et vocem niodulis variare eanoram 
Doctus, Arionii merito sis nominis literes. 
Nunc tibi quid mirum, si me geT)uisse poetara 
Contigerit, diaro si tam jJrojiO sanguine juncti 
Cognatas artes, studiuni(|ue aftine sequamur? 
Ipse volens Plia^V)us se dispertire duoVius, 
Altera dona mihi, dedit altera dona parenti, 
Dividuumque Deum genitorque puenpie tenemuB. 

Tu tamen ut siiuules teneras udisse Camoenas, 
Non odisse reor, neque enim, pater, ire jubebaB 

T 



648 8TLVAEUM LIBKE. 

Qu& via lata patet, qnk pronior area lucri, 
Certaque condendi fulget spes aurea numnii : 
Nee rapis ad leges, male custoditaqiie gentis 
Jura, nee insulsis damnas clamoribns anres : 
Sed magis exeultain cu})ien8 diteseere mentem, 
Me prociil urbano stre])itu, secessibus altis 
Abductum, Aonife jueunda per otia ripae, 
Phrcboeo lateri comitem sinis ire beatum. 
Officium chari taceo commune parentis, 
Me poscunt majora : tuo, pater optime, sunaptu 
Ctim mihi Romule^e patuit facundia linguae, 
Et Latii veneres, et quae Jovis ora decebant 
Grandia magniloquis elata vocabula Graiis, 
Addere suasisti quos jactat Gallia flores, 
Et quam degeneri novus Italus ore loquelam 
Fundit, barbaricos testatus voce tumultus, 
Quaaque Pahi^stinus loquitur raysteria vates. 
Denique quicquid habet ccelum, subjectaque coelo 
Terra parens, terraeque et coelo intertluus aer, 
Quicquid et unda tegit, pontique agitabile marmor, 
Per te nosse licet, per te, si nosse libebit. 
Diraotaque venit spectanda scientia nube, 
Nudaque conspicuos inclinat ad oscula vultus, 
Ni fugisse velim, ni sit libasse molestum. 

I nunc, confer opes, quisqiiis malesanus avitaa 
Aiistriaci gazas, Periianaque regna, praeoptas. 
Quae potuit majora pater tribuisse, vel ipse • 

Jupiter, excepto, donasset ut omnia, caelo? 
Non potiora dedit, quamvis et tuta fuissent, 
Publica qui juveni commisit lumina nato 
Atque Hyperionios currus, et fnena diei. 
El circum undantem radiata luce tiaram. 
Ergo ego jam doctae pars quamlibet ima catervw 
Victrices hederas inter, laurosque sedebo, 
Jamque nee obscurus populo miscebor inerti, 
Vitabuntque oculos vestigia nostra profanos. 
Este procul vigiles curae, procul este querelae, 
Invidiaeque acies transverso tortilis hirquo, 
Saeva nee anguiferos extende calumnia rictus; 
In me triste nihil fedissima turba potestis, 



SYLVAKUM LIllKK. fi49 

Nec vestri huin juris e^^o ; secunique tutus 
Pectora, vipereo giiuliar sublimis ub iotu. 

At tibi, cliiire jiatei*, jtostquaui uou luqua merenti 
Posse referre datur, uec dona rciteiulere factis, 
Sit Hiemorasse satis, repetitaque muuera grato 
Percenseru aiiiiiio, fidajque reponere menti. 

Et vos, O iiostii, juvenilia caruiina, lusus, 
Si modo perjietuos speraie audubitis auuos, 
Et doniiiii suj)eresse rogo, lucemque tueri, 
Nec spisso rapieut oblivia nigra sub Oreo, 
Forsitan has laudes, docautatumq\ie parentis 
Komeu, ad. exeuiplum, sero servabitis »vo. 



AD SALSILLUIM, POETAM ROMANUM, ^GRO- 
TANTEM. 

SCAZONTES. 

O MusA gressum quae volens trains claudum^ 
Vulcanioque tarda gaudes incessu, 
Nec sentis illud in loco minus gratum, 
Quam cCini decentes flava Deiope suras 
Alternat aureuni ante Junonis lectum, 
Adesdum et hsec s' is verba pauca Salsillo 
Refer, Canuena nostra cui tantinn est cordi, 
Quanique ille niagnis })rajtulit iinnierito divis. 
Haec ergo alumnus ille LondiniJMilto, 
Diebus hisce qui suuni linquens nidum 
Polique tractum (pessimus ubi ventorum, 
Insanientis impotensque pulmonis, 
Pernix anliela sub Jove exercet flabra), 
Venit feraces Itali soli ad glebas, 
Visum sujierba cognitas urbes faraa 
Virosque doctajijue indolem juventutis. 
Tibi optat idem hie fausta multa Salsille, 
Habitunique fesso cor])ori pt-uitua sanum; 
Cui nunc j)rofunda bills infestat renes, 
Praecordiisque fixa damnosum spirat. 
Nec id pepercit impia quod tu Romano 
Tarn cultus ore Lesbium condis melos. 



660 SYLVARUM LIBER. 

O dulce divftra immus, O Snlus, Hebea 
Genruina ! Tuque Plioebe niorl)orum terror 
Pythone cffiso, sive tu magis Paean 
Libenter audis, hie tuus sacerdos est. 
Querceta Fauni, vosque rore vinoso 
Colles benigni, raitis Evandri sedes, 
Siquid salubre vallibus frondet vestris, 
Levaiiieii aigro ferte certatim vati. 
Sic ille charis redditus rursfim Musis 
Viciua dulci prata mulcebit cantu. 
Ipse inter atros emiral)itur lucos 
Numa, ubi beatuin degit otiuni seternum, 
Suam reclinis semper -L^geriaiii sjiectans. 
Tumidusque et i])se Tibris, hinc delinitus, 
Spei faA'ebit annuae colonoruni : 
Nee in sepulchris ibit obsessum reges 
Nimidm sinistro laxus irruens loro : 
Sed fra^na melius tem})eiabit undarum, 
Adusque curvi salsa regna Portumni. 



MANUS. 



Joannes Baptista Mansns Marchio Villenpis, vir ingenii lande, turn lit- 
teraruin studio, nee non et bellica virtiite, ayiiid Ttiilos clariis in primia 
est. Ad (juem Torquati Tassi Dialosus extat de Amicitia scriptus; erat 
eniiD Tassi amicissiimis; ab qiio etiam inter Campaniip prinoipes cel©- 
bratur, in illo poemate cui titiilus Genisalenime Conqnistata, lib. 20 — 

" Fra cavalier maj:;naninii, 6 cortes) 
Kispleude 11 MaJiso" — 
ie autLorem Neapoli coimuorantem suinina benevoleutia prosecutus est, 
multaque ei detulit huntauitatis otlifia. Ad hiinc it;iqiie liospes ille aa- 
teqiiam ab ea urbe discederet, ut ne ingratum se ostenderet, hoc carmen 
misit. 

IImc quoque, Manse, tuae meditantur carmina laudi 
Pierides, tibi, Manse, elioro notissinie Phoebi, 
Quandoquidem ille alium hand jequo est dignatus honore, 
Post Galli cineres, et Mecaenatis Hetrusei. 
Tu quoqne, si nostras tantum valet aura CamoenaB, 
Victrices hederas inter, laurosque sedebis. 
Te pridem magno felix concordia Tasso 
Junxit, et aeternis inscripsit nomina chartis; 



8TLVARUM LIRER. fi51 

Mox tibi dulciloquura non inscia Musa Marinum 

Tradidit, ille tuum dici se gaudet aluiniium, 

Dum canit Assyrios divftm pn)lixus amorcs; 

Mollis et Ausc>nias stu|>efccit carmino nymphas. 

Ille itidom muriens tibi soli debita rates 

Ossa, tibi soli, siijtremaque vota roliquit : 

Nee manes jiietas tua chara fefellit amici, 

Vidimus arridentem oj>eroso ex ajre poetam. 

Nee satis hoc visum est in utrumque, ot nee pia cessaoi 

Offieia in tumulo, cui>is integros rapere Oreo, 

Qua poles, atijue avidas Parcaruni eludere leges: 

Amboruin genus, et varia sub forte peraetam 

Describis vitam, moresque, et dona Minervae; 

^niulus illius Mycalen qui uatus ad altara 

Kettulit T-Eolii vitam facundus TTonieri. 

Ergo ego te, Clifts et raagni nomine Phcebi, 

Manse pater, jubeo longum salvere ])er ajvum 

Missus ITyperboreo juvenis peregrinus ab axe. 

Nee tu longinquam bonus asp(!rnal)are Musam, 

QuJB nupcr gelida vix enutrita sub Arcto 

Iraprudens Italas ausa est volitare per urbes. 

Nos otiam in nosti'o modulantes flumiue eygnoa 

Credimus obscuras noctis sensisse per umbras, 

Qua Tliamesis late puris argenteus urnis 

Oceani glaueos perfundit gurgite crines : 

Quin et in has quondam pervenit Tityrus oras. 

Sed neque nos genus incultum, nee inutile PhoBbc, 
QuS pl'ig;^ septeno mundi suleata Trione 
Brumalem jiatitur longa sub noete Booten. 
Nos etiam colimus Plicebum, nos miinera Phcebo 
Flaventes spieas, et lutea mala eanistris, 
rialantemque crocum (perhibet nisi vana vetustaa) 
Misimus, et leetas Druidum de gente ehoreas. 
(Gens Druides antiqua sacris operata deorura 
Heroum laudes imilandaque gesta canebant) 
Flinc quoties festo eingunt allaria cantu, 
Delo in herbosa, Graiie cle more puellfe, 
CarminiVius Ifetis memorant Corineida Loxo, 
Fatidicamque Upin, cum flavicoma Ilecaerge, 
Nuda Caledonio variatas pectora fuco. 



652 SYLVARUM LIBEK. 

Fortunate senex, ergo, quacunque per orbem 
Torquati decus, et nomen celebrabitur ingens, 
Claraque pei-petui succrescet fania Marini, 
Tu quoque in ora frequens veuies plausumque virorum, 
Et parili carpes iter inimortale volatu. 
Dicetur turn sponte tuos Labitasse penates 
Cynthius, et famulas venisse ad limina Musas : 
At nou sponte domum tamen idem, et regis adivit 
Rura Pheretiadaa ccelo fugitivus Apollo ; 
Ille licet magnum Alciden suseeperat hospes ; 
Tantum ubiclamosos placuit vitare bubulcos, 
Nobile mansueti cessit Chironis in antrum, 
Irriguos inter saltus, frondosaque tecta, 
Peneium ))rope rivum : ibi siepe sub ilice nigrS,, 
Ad citharae 6tre])itum, bland ti preee victus amici 
Exilii duros lenibat voce labores. 
Turn neque ripa suo, barathro nee fixa sub imo 
Saxa stetere loco, nutat Trachinia ru})es. 
Nee sentit solitas, immania j)ondera, silvas, 
Emotseque suis properant de collibus orni, 
Mulcenturque novo maculosi carmine lynces. 

Diis dilecte senex, te Jupiter £equus oportet 
Nascentem. et miti lustrarit lumine Phcebus, 
Atlantisque ne})OS ; neque enim nisi charus ab ortu 
Diis superis poterit magno favisse poetae. 
Hinc longaeva tibi lento sub llore senectus 
Vernat, et JSsonios lucratur vivida fusos, 
Nondum deciduos servans tibi frontis lionores, 
Ingeniumque vigens, et adultum mentis acumen. 
O mihi si mea sors talem concedat amicum, 
Phcebaeos decorasse viros qui tam bene norit, 
Si quando indigenas revocabo in carmina reges, 
Arturumque etiani sub terris bella moventem ; 
Aut dicam invictie sociali fcBdere mensae 
Magnanimos heroas, et (O niodo spiritus adsit !) 
Frangarn Saxonicas Britonuni sub Marte phalanges 
Tar-dem ubi nou tacitae permensus tempora vitae, 
Annorumque satur, cineri sua jura relinquam, 
lUe mihi lecto madidis astaret ocellis, 
Astauti sat erit si dicam sim tibi curae ; 



STLYABUH LIBBB. 563 

Hie meo8 artus, liventi morte solutes, 
Curarct )>arva coiiijioni rnolliter urna. 
Forsitan et nostros ducat de niarinore vultus, 
Nectens aut Pajdiia myrti aut Parnasside lauri 
Fronde comas, at ego socura jiace quiescam. 
Tuin quoque, si qua fides, si pra^mia certa bonorum. 
Ipse ego c«licol(im semotus in ajtliera divilm, 
Quo labor et mens pura vehunt, atque ignea virtus, 
Secreti luec aliqua mundi de ])arte vidcbo 
(Quantum fata sinunt) : et tota mente sereniun 
Ridens purjiureo suffundar lumine vultus, 
Et simul ajthereo plaudam mihi laatus Olyiapo. 



EPITAPHIUM DA^IONIS. 

ABGUMENTUM. 

Thyrsis et Damon ejusdem viciniaj pastores, eadem studia sequuti i 
pueritia aniii'i craiit, ut qui i>lurinuiru. Thyrsis animi causa profectua 
perejir^ de dhitu Daniouis niiiiciinn airepit. Doiimm postea reversue, 
et rem itji esse coniperto, sesiiaiiuitie sulitiuliueni hoc carmine deplorat. 
Daiuoiiisauteiii sub jiersoua hie intelliyitur Cakoix's Deodatcs ex urbe 
Hetruriie Luca paterno geuere oriundus, ca-tera Auglus; ingenio, doo 
trina, clarissiniisque cateris virtutibus, dum viveret, juveuis egregiua. 

HiMERiDEs nynipbae (nam vos et Dajihnin et Hylan, 
Et plorata diu meiiiinistis fata Bionis) 
Dicite Sicelicum Thamesina per oppida carmen : 
Quas miser effudit voces, qua murmura Thyrsis, 
Et quibus assiduis exercuit antra querelis, 
Fluminaque, fontesque vagos, nemorumque recessus, 
Dum sibi prffireptum queritur ])amona, neque altam 
Luctibus exemit noctem loca sola pererrans. 
Et jam bis viridi surgebat culmus arista, 
Et totidem flavas numerabant horrea messes, 
Ex quo summa dies tulerat Damona sub umbras. 
Nee dum aderat Tliyrsis ; ]»astorem scilicet ilium 
Dulcis amor Mus* Tliusca retinebat in urbe. 
Ast ubi mens explcta domum, pecorisque relicti 
Cura vocat, simul assueta seditqne sub ulmo, 
Turn vero amissum tum denique eentit amicum, 
Ccepit et immensum sic exonerare dolorem. 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agm. 



554 BYLVAEUM LIBEB. 

Hei mihi ! quae terris, quae dlcam numina coelo, 
Postquara te immiti rapuenmt funere, Damon ! 
Siccine nos linquis, tua sic sine nomine virtus 
Ibit, et obscuris numero sociabitur umbris? 
At non ille, animas virga qui dividit aurea, 
Ista velit, dignumque tui te ducat in agraen, 
Ignavumque procul pecus arceat omne silentum. 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agnL 
Quicquid erit, certe, nisi me lupus ant6 videbit, 
Indeplorato non comminuere sepulchre, 
Constabitque tuus tibi honos, longumque vigebit 
Inter pastores : illi tibi vota secundo 
Solvere post Dapbnin, post Daphnin dlcere laudes 
Gaudebunt, dum rura Pales, dum Faunus amabit : 
Si quid id est, priscamque fidem coluisse, pidraque, 
Palladiasque artes, sociumque habuiese canorum. 

Ite domum imp'^sti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Hffic tibi certa m«nenu, tibi erunt hapc })ra3mia, Damon, 
At mihi quid tandem fiet modo ? quii? mihi fidus 
Hjerebit lateri coin^^s, ut tu saepe soiebas 
Frigoribus duris, et per loca fceta pruinis, 
Aut rapido sub sole siti morientibus herbis ; 
Sive opus in magnof fuit cmintis ire leones, 
Aut avisos terrere Ivpos piaesepibus altis, 
Quis fando sopire diem, caa^uque solebit ? 

Ite domum impast", domino jam non vacat agni. 
Pectora cui credam ? quis me lenire docebit 
Mordaces curas, quis lougam fallere noctem 
Dulcibus alloquiis, grato cum sibilat igni 
Molle pyrum, et nucibus strepitat focus, et ma.u*. an ter 
Miscet cuncta foris, et detuper intonat ulmo ? 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non. v.-^cat, agv.i. 
Aut aestate, dies medio dum vertitur axe, 
Cum Pan aesculea somnum c;ipit ab3.Hus umbrS, 
Et repetunt sub aquis sibi uota sedilW nymphae, 
Pastoresque latent, stertit sub sepe coionus, 
Quis mihi blanditiasque tuas, quis tum mihi risui., 
Cecropiosque sales referet, cultosqn.e lepor^s ? 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non va^iut, a^.ii 
At jam solus agros, jam pascua solab oberrc, 



SYLYARUM LIBEB. 556 

Sicubi ramosae densantur vallibus umbrae, 

Hie serum expecto, supra caput imber et Eurus 

Triste sonaut, fractitHpie agitata crepuscula sylvae. 

Ite domum iinpasti, domino jam mm vacat, agni. 
Heu, quam culta mild i)rius arva procacibus herbia 
Involvuntur, et ipsa situ seges alta fatiscit ! 
Innuba neglecto marcescit et uva recemo, 
Nee myrtela juvant; ovium quoquc taedet, at illae 
Moerent, inque suum convertunt era magistrum. 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam uon vacat, agni. 
Tityrus ad corylos vocat, AlphesibcBus ad ornos, 
Ad snlices yEgon, ad flumina j)ulclier Amyntas, 
" Hie gelidi fontes, hie illita gramina nmsco, 
Hie Zephyri, liic placidas interstrepit arbutus undas;" 
Ista canunt sunlo, frutices ego nactus abibam. 

Ite domum imjiasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Mopsus ad baic, nam me redeuntem forte notarat 
(Et callebat avium iinguas, et sidera Mopsus), 
" Thyrsi quid hoc?" dixit, " quae te coquit improbabilisT 
Aut te perdit amor, aut te male fascinat astrum, 
Saturni grave sa3])e fuit pastor ibus astrum, 
Intimaque obliciuo figit |>riecordia ])lumbo." 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Mirantur nymplu'e, et " quid te. Thyrsi, futurum est? 
Quid tibi vis ?" aiunt, " non lu^c solet esse juventaa 
Kubila frons, oculiipie truces, vultusque severi, 
Ilia choros, lususque leves, et semper amorem 
Jure petit, bis ille miser qui serus amavit." 

Ite domum imjiasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Venit Hyas, Dryopeque, et filia Baucidis ^gle, 
Docta modos, citharaique sciens, sed perdita fastu, 
Venit Idumanii Chloris vicma fluenti ; 
Nil me bland itisi, nil me solantia verba. 
Nil me, si quid adest, movet, aut sj)es ulla futuri. 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agnL 
Hei mihi, quam similes ludunt per prata juvenci, 
Omnes unanimi secum sibi lege sodales ! 
Nee magis hunc alio quisquam secernit amicum 
De grege, sic deusi veniunt ad pabula thoes, 
laque vicem hirsuti paribus junguntur onagri; 



556 STLVAKUM LIBER. 

Lex eadem pelagi, deserto in littore Proteus 
Agmina phocarum nunierat, vilisque volucrum 
Passer habet seniper quicuni sit, et omnia circura 
Parra libens A'olitet, sero sua tecta revisens, 
Quern si sors letbo objecit, seu milvus adunco 
Fata tulit rosero, seu stravit arundine fossor, 
Protinus ille alium socio petit inde volatu. 
Nos durum genus, et diris exercita fatis 
Gens homines aliena animis, et pectore discors, 
Vix sibi quisque parem de millibus invenit unum, 
Aut si sors dederit tandem non aspera votis, 
Ilium inopina dies, qua non sjieravcris bora, 
Surripit, Kternum linquens in sa?cula damnum. 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Heu quis me ignotas traxit vagus error in oras 
Ire per aereas rupes, Alpemque nivosam ! 
Ecquid erat tanti Romam vidisse sopultara 
(Quamvis ilia foret, qualem dum viseret olim, 
Tityrus ipse suus et oves et rura reliquit) ; 
Ut te tam dulci possem caruisse sodale, 
Possem tot maria alta, tot interponere montes, 
Tot sylvas, tot saxa tibi, fluviosque sonantes ! 
Ah certe extremtim licuisset tangere dextram, 
Et bene comjwsitos placide morientis ocellos, 
Et dixisse, "■ Vale, nostri memor ibis ad astra." 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Quamquam etiam vestri nunquam meminisse pigebit, 
Pastores Thusci, Musis operata juventus. 
Hie Charis, ntque Lepos ; et Thuscus tu quoque, DamODi 
Antiqua gei;;is unde petis Lucumonis ab urbe. 
O ego quantus eram, gelidi cum stratus ad Arni 
Murmura, populeumque nemus, qua mollior herba, 
Carpere nunc violas, nunc summas carpere mjTtos, 
Et potui Lycidas certantem audire Menalcara ! 
Ipse etiam tentare ausus sum, nee puto multtim 
DispHcui, nam sunt et apud me munera vestra 
Fiscelli», calathique, et cerea vincla cicutae : 
Quin et nostra suas docuerunt nomina fagos 
Et Datis, et Francinus, erant et vocibus ambo 
Et Btudiie noti, Lydorum sanguinis ambo. 



STLVARUM LIBER. 557 

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Hflec railu turn K-eto dictabat roscida luna, 
Duin solus teiuTos claudobam cratibus hwdos. 
Ah quoties dixi, cfim te cinis ater hahebat, 
Nunc canit, aut lepori nunc tondit retia Damon, 
Vimina nunc texit, varios sibi quod sit in usus! 
Et quie turn facili sperabara niente futura < 
Arrijiui voto levis, et praesontia finxi : 
" Heus bone numquid agis? nisi te quid forte retaidat, 
Imus ? et avgutu paubim rccubanuis in umbra, 
Aut ad aquas Cohii, aut ubi jugera Cassibelauni ? 
Tu mihi ])ercurres medicos, tua gramiiia, succos, 
Helleborumquc, humilesque, crocos, folidmque, hyacinthi, 
Quasque babet ista pabis lierbas, artesque medent^m." 
Ah pereant herbre, pereant artesque medentilm, 
Gramina, postquam ij^si nil profecere magistro. 
Ipse etiam, nam nescio quid mihi grande sonabat 
Fistula, ab undecima jam lux est altera nocte, 
Et turn forte novis admoram labra cicutis, 
Dissiluere tamen ru])ta comjtage, noc ultra 
Ferre graves potuere souos ; dubito quoque ne sim 
Turgidulus, tamen et referam ; vos cedite, sylvae. 

Ite domum imjiasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. 
Ipse ego Dardanias Rutupina per oequora puppes 
Dicam, et Pandrasidos regnum vetus Inogenife, 
Brenntimque Arvigariimque duces, prisctimque Belimum, 
Et tandem Armoricos Britonum sub lege colonos ; 
Turn gravidain Arturo fatali fraude logernen, 
Mendaces vultus, assumptaque Gorlois arma, 
Merlini dolus. O mihi tum si vita supersit, 
Tu ])rocul annosa ))endebis fistula pinu 
Multlim oblita mihi, aut patriis mutata Camoenis 
Brittonicum strides, quid enim? omnia non licet uni ; 
Non sperasse uni licet omnia ; mi satis ampla, 
Merces, et mihi grande decus (sim ignotus in 8evum 
Tum licet, externo [tenitusque inglorius orbi) 
Si me flava comas legat Usa, et potor Alauni, 
Vorticibusque frequens Abra, et nemus omne TreantflB, 
Et Thamesis raeus ante omnes, et fusoa metallis 
Tamara, et extremis me discant Orcades undis. 



558 STLVAEUM LIBEB. 

Ite domura irapasti, domino jam non vacat, agni 
Haec tibi servabam leiita sub cortice laui'i, 
Haec, et plura siiuul, turn quae mihi pocula Mansus, 
Mansus ChalcidiciB non ultima gloria ripae, 
Bina dedit, mirum artis opus, mirandus et ij^se, 
Et cii'cum gemino cjelaverat argumento : 
In medio rubri maris unda, et odoriferum ver, 
Littora longa Arabum, et sudantes balsama sylvsB, 
Has inter Phoenix divina avis, unica terris, 
Caeruletim fulgens diversicoloribus alls 
Auroram vitreis surgontem respicit undis. 
Parte alia polus omnipatens, et magnus Olympus, 
Quis putet ? hie quoque Amor, pictieque in nube pharetrae, 
Arma corusca faces, et spicula tincta pyropo ; 
Nee tcnues aninias, j)ectiis(]ue ignobile vulgi 
Hinc ferit, at circdm liammantia lumina torquens 
Semper in erectum spargit sua tela per orbes 
Impiger, et pronos nunquam coUimat ad ictus, 
Hinc me"tes ardere sacne, formseque deorum. 

Tu quoque in his, nee me fallit spec lubrica, Damon, 
Tu quoque in his certe es, nam quo tua dulcis abiret 
Sanctaque simplioitas, nam quo tua Candida virtus? 
Xec te Lelhaio fas quoesivisse sub orco, 
Nee tibi conveniunt lacrynue, nee flebimus ultr^ 
Ite procul iacrymae, purum colit athera Damon, 
^thera purvis habet, pluvium pede reppulit arcum ; 
Herotimque animas inter, divosque perennes, 
-^thereos haurit latiees, et gaudia potat 
Ore sacro. Quin tu coeli post jura recepta 
Dexter ades, placidtisque fave quicunqne vocaris, 
iSeu tu noster eris Damon, sive ajquior audis 
Diodotus, quo te divino nomine cuncti 
Coelicol® norint, sylvisque vocabere Damon. 
Quod tibi purpureus pudor, et sine labe juventus 
Grata fuit, quod nulla tori libata voluptas, 
Eq etiam tibi virginei servantur honores; 
Ipse caput nitjdum cinctus rutilante corona, 
Lastaque frondentis gestans umbracula palmae 
-dEternum perages immortales hymenaeos ; 
Cantus ubi, choreisque furit lyra mista beatis, 
festa SionaRO bacchantur et Orgia thyrso. 



STLVARITM LIBEB. 669 

jA2fUABT 23, 1646. 

^D JOANNEM ROUSHBI OXONIENSIS ACADEMIC 

BIBLIOTHECARimt 

De llbro Poematnin amisso, quem ille sibi denuomitti postnlabat, 
at cam aliis aostris in Bibliotheca publica reponeret, ode. 

Strophe I. 

GEiCELLE cnltu simplici gaudens liber, 

Fronde licet gemina, 

Munditieque nitens non operosa, 

Quam man us attulit 

Juvenilis olim, 

Sedula tamen baud nimii poetie; 

Dura vagus Ausonias nunc per umbras, 

Nunc Britannica per vireta lusit 

Insons populi, barbitoque devius 

Indulsit patrio, mox itidem pectine Daunio 

Longinquum intonuit melos 

Vicinis, et bumum vix tetigit pede ; 

Antistrophe. 

Quia te parve liber, quis te fratribus 

Subduxit reliquis dolo ? 

Cum tu missus ab urbe, 

Docto jugiter obsecrante amico, 

Illustre tendebas iter 

Thamesis ad incunabula 

Caerulei patris, 

Fontes ubi limpidi 

Aonidum, thyasusque sacer 

Orbi notus per immensos 

Temporum lapsus redeunte ccelo, 

Celeberque futurus in aevum? 

Strophe II. 

Modd quis deus, aut editus deo 
Pristinam gentis miseratus indolem 
(Si satis noxas luimus priores, 



wo BYLTAEUM LIBKK. 

Mollique Inxu degener otium), 

Tollat nefandos civium tumultus, 

Almaque revocet studia sanctus, 

Et relegatas sine sede Musas 

Jam pen6 totis finibus Angligenlim ; 

Immundasque volucres 

Unguibus imminentes 

Figat ApoUinea pharetra, 

Phin^amque abigat pestem procul amne Pegas^o T 

Antistrophe. 

Quin tu, libelle, niintii licet malS 

Fide, vel oscitantia, 

Semel erraveris agmine fratrum, 

Seu quis te teneat specus, 

Seu qua te latebra, forsan unde vili 

Callo tererls institoris insiilsi, 

Laetare felix, en iterum tibi 

Spes nova fulget posse profundara 

Fugere Lethen, vehique superam 

In Jovis aulam remige penna; 

Strophk III. 

Nam te Rotlsius sui 

Optat peculi, nunieroque justo 

Sibi pollicitum queritur abesse, 

Rogatque venias ille cujus inclyta 

Sunt data virftm monumenta curae : 

Teque adytis etiam sa^ris 

Voluit reponi, quibus et ipse praasidet 

^ternorum operum custos fidelis; 

Quaestorque gazae nobilioris, 

Quam cui praefuit Ion, 

Clarus Erechtheides, 

Opulenta dei per templa parentis, 

Fulvosque tripodas, donaque Delphioa, 

l6n Actfea genitus CreusS. 



stl^abuh ltbeb. 661 

Antistrophk. 

Ergo tu visere lucos 

Musarum ibis amoenos, 

Diaraque Phoebi rnrsus ibis in domnm, 

Oxonia quam valle edit, 

Delo posthabita, 

Bifidoque Parnassi jugo: 

Ibis honestus, 

Postquam egregiam tu quoque sortem 

Nactiis abis, dextri prece soUicitatus amici. 

Illic legeris inter alta nomina 

Authorum, Graia3 siniul et Latinae 

Antiqua geutis bimiua, et verum decuB. 

Epodos. 

Vo8 tandem baud vacui raei labores, 

Q'licquid hoc sterile fudit ingenium, 

Jam sero placidam sperare jubeo 

Perfunctain invidiS requiem, sedesque beatas, 

Quas bonus Hermes 

Et tutela dabit solers Rotisi, [long^ 

Quo neque lingua procax vulgi penetrabit, atque 

Turba legentum prava facesset; 

At ultimi nepotes, 

Et cordatior aetas, 

Judicia rebus aequiora forsitan 

Adhibebit integro sinu. 

Turn, livore sepulto, 

Si quid meremur sana posteritas sciet, 

Rotisio favente. 



Ode tribus constat Strophis, totid6mqiie Antiatrophis, nni dennim 
Epodo clausia, quas, tametsi orunes nee versuum numero, nee certis 
abic^ue colis exaete respondeant, ita tamen secuiimia, commode legendl 
potius, qu&m ad autinnos conciiiendi modos, riitionem spectantes. 
Alioquiu hoc genus recti us fortasse dici monostrophicum debuerat. 
Metra partim suut Kara <t\«ti.v, |)artim aTroAeAu^ei-a. Phaleucia qu» sunt 
epondipum tertio loco bis admittuut, quod idem in secundo loco Catullnj 
•d libitum fecit 

36 



062 BYLVAEUM LIBBB. ^ J S ^ 

kjy CHRISTINAM SUECORUM REGINAM NOMINE 
CROMWELLI. 

Bellipotkns virgo, septem regina trionum, 

Christina, Arctoi lucid a Stella poli ! 
Cernis quas merui dura sub casside rugas, 

Utque senex armis impiger ora tero ; 
Invia fatorum dum per vestigia nitor, 

Exequor et populi fortia jussa mauu. 
Afst tibi submittit frontem revereutior umbra ; 

Nee sunt hi vultus regibus usque truces. 



THB SMB. 



